


I Only Come Alive Under the Moonlight

by remivel



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Animal Transformation, Bottom Louis, Fluff, M/M, Past Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Romantic Comedy, Top Liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-03 19:15:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 54,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6622936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remivel/pseuds/remivel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis knew he hadn't seen action in months, but this was just the universe making fun of him, he was sure of it. Because when he woke up in the middle of the night, he discovered that his new dog was missing, and standing in its place was a very confused, very fit... and very naked man.</p>
<p>Or a romantic comedy with a furry twist. Liam turns into a dog at night, Louis tries to help him get back to normal-- and ends up falling in love somewhere along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please check out the really awesome Fanmix by bohemu [here](http://8tracks.com/bohemu/li-me).
> 
> Written for the One Direction Big Bang Round Four.
> 
> Story was inspired by a Romantic Comedy movie. If you want to have a bit of a spoiler, read through to the End Notes to see which movie it was.
> 
> Many thanks to my artist collaborator, bohemu, for putting up with me and my complete lack of updates.  
> Thanks also to my beta, bambayah. I gave my beta very little time to work with me on this, so any errors left are completely my own and will be corrected (I promise!) ASAP.
> 
> Edit: fixed the paragraph spacing. Should look a bit better now.
> 
> Longest fic I've posted so far. Work got crazy. I got crazy. Now onto the next one.

“It's just not the same anymore,” Louis said with a heavy sigh. He let his eyes close as he reclined on the plush, leather couch. He'd lost count of how many times he'd been here, pouring out his thoughts and frustrations in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, he'd figure out what was wrong. 

“I feel like the words are taunting me. Like, they're just there, floating around in the air but every time I try and catch them, they fly away. Every time I try and sit down to write, there's always something missing! I could write lines and lines of lyrics but somehow they'd still feel incomplete...” another heavy sigh escaped his mouth and he opened his eyes to look at the person sat in an armchair across from him. “ _I_ still feel incomplete,” he amended. 

A grunt was the only response he got. 

“Well?” he asked, sitting up. “Aren't you gonna say something? Tell me how me dad leaving when I was a kid was what fucked me up and now it's messing with my head and my writing?” Louis asked, a bit irritably. 

“Naw, mate. You're being ridiculous,” Zayn said, an amused smile on his face as he took another drag from his cigarette. “You just need to get laid.” 

Louis sneered and chucked a throw pillow at Zayn's head, and felt a bit of satisfaction at Zayn's indignant yelp when the pillow mussed his perfectly coiffed quiff. “Well I'm glad at least one of us is amused by my troubles,” Louis harrumphed. 

“I'm being serious, though,” Zayn said, even as he distractedly checked his reflection on the glass tabletop and tried to fix his hair. 

They're at a swanky five star hotel somewhere in Europe (Louis'd have to ask Niall where exactly since he'd lost his bearings five cities ago) wiling the hours away before another show. Niall was presumably by the hotel bar chatting up the bartender, while Harry was down by the pool soaking up some sun in his ridiculously tiny yellow shorts. This meant Louis was alone with Zayn in their hotel room for an indefinite amount of time, which usually meant Louis would be spilling his guts out to Zayn in thirty minutes or less. Today, it didn't even take twenty minutes before Louis was questioning the meaning of his life and seeking Zayn's sage advice. Zayn just had that effect on people. 

“It's been ages since you and El broke up,” Zayn continued. “You need some inspiration. I've got this perfect bloke for you—” 

“Not this again,” Louis groaned loudly, flopping himself back on the couch. “For the last time: I don't do blind dates, Zayn.” 

“Why not?” Zayn asked, making a face like Louis was being very unreasonable. “You got to get back in the game, man. Even Harry's started getting worried about you. He thinks there might be something wrong with your bits, and you're just too embarrassed to tell us. He's been Googling herbal remedies for performance issues all day.” 

Louis choked on his own tongue. “Nothing's wrong with my bits, alright? Everything's perfectly fine down there.” 

“What's stopping you then? Try pulling someone from the club tonight... or you could go on a blind date with my mate. Did I mention he plays a bit of footie and he's incredibly fit?” Zayn said, waggling his eyebrows comically. 

“So is Beckham, but that isn't gonna happen either, so just come off it, Zayn,” Louis said. 

“At least consider it,” Zayn insisted. He could be a persistent little bugger sometimes. “We have two weeks 'till the break. If, by then, you're not out of your slump, and your bits are still fully functional, then try it out with my mate.” 

Louis made a face like he just sucked on a lemon. “Fine, I'll do it,” he relented, and Zayn's face lit up like a Christmas tree. 

“You will?” he asked, clearly still in disbelief. 

“If it gets you to shut up about my bits, then yeah. I'll go on that bloody date. But that's it, okay? No more blind dates after this, got it?” 

Zayn smiled widely, his nose scrunching the way it did whenever he was either really elated or just about to sneeze. “I reckon once you meet him, you won't need another blind date.” 

Louis just rolled his eyes. If only it were that easy. 

>>>>

There was a time when even writing was that easy for Louis. 

The first time a song he wrote was chosen for their album, he was so proud, he felt the joy bursting from every pore. Recording the song was even more of an experience. It felt like magic, hearing his words come to life as his band mates recorded it in the studio. And after that, when they performed it for the first time in a stadium full of people, and hearing his words sung back to him, well, he couldn't be blamed for choking up halfway into the song, barely able to sing his verse. There may have been a couple grainy photos of him shedding a few tears floating around on the Internet, but he would neither confirm nor deny that he cried like a baby in front of thousands of people. It was just sweat dripping into his eyes, he swore. 

He wanted to chase that feeling again, and for their next album he wrote even more songs, some with the other lads, and some with the other songwriters they've worked with before. And for a while it was going great. Their third album was filled with songs he and the boys have written, and he was still proud as ever. But even then, there was a nagging feeling in his mind that something was missing. That all the songs he'd been writing so far were somehow unfinished. Incomplete. 

And now that they're about to go on a break from touring to work on their new album, it felt even harder for Louis to find the words. He didn't want to admit it, but maybe his creative juices have dried up. Maybe that was it for him, and he would never find it in himself to write another song again. 

It was a depressing thought, one that was made even worse when Julian and Jamie sat down with him to pitch a few songs for the album. It wasn't like this was the first time he'd be hearing demos from other writers. However, it was the first time Louis felt this small, like with each new song he was presented, he was reminded of what he once had, and what he'd been struggling to have again. 

“Well?” Julian asked after he played the third song for Louis. 

“They're good songs, but that's not really the sound we're going for. Have you got anything else?” Louis said, and he didn't mean to sound bitter about it, but if he wasn't going to be the one to write songs for his band, then he could at least pick only the best songs for them to sing. 

“We're gonna change the arrangement, of course. Add a few drums to the chorus... but...” Julian said, looking at Jamie briefly, as if asking him a silent question. 

Jamie shrugged and started rummaging through his bag. “I think I may have something you'll like,” Jamie said, before he triumphantly pulled out a memory stick. “It's something we worked on with a new artist from the label.” 

“Oh! Are you two cheating on me behind my back? With a new guy no less!” Louis said, acting offended. 

“We were never exclusive, Lou,” Jamie said with a chuckle as he plugged the memory stick in his laptop. 

“Now this is still very rough, but if this is the kind of vibe you want, we could have him write a couple of songs for your album, if you like,” Julian told him, even as a lone guitar started playing through the laptop's speakers. 

Then a soothing voice started singing, _you tell me that you're sad and lost your way, you tell me that your tears are here to stay, but I know you were only hiding, and I just want to see you,_ and Louis was overcome with a feeling he couldn't quite place. 

The song sounded so much like one of the songs Louis had been struggling to write this whole time, like all those words floating in the air that Louis was trying to catch was caught by somebody else, and Louis didn't know if he wanted to be extremely jealous or extremely impressed. Once the song ended, he decided it was fine if he was both. 

“Now this, this I like,” Louis said, unable to stop the grin from spreading on his face. “What is it? Through the Dark?” Louis said, reading the file name displayed on Jamie's laptop screen. “Can we have this in our album, lads?” 

“See I knew you were gonna say that,” Julian said. “It's got the perfect sound for your new album, but unfortunately, it's already lined up for someone else's.” 

Louis made an exaggerated pout. “What's the point of all this then? Dangling a carrot in front of me face and telling me it's for some other bunny?” 

“I told you, it's just to see if you like this material,” Jamie said. “There's more where it came from, don't worry.” 

“But this song,” Louis insisted like a petulant kid. “I _want_ this song.” 

“It's not up to us, you know that. But,” Jamie paused, sighing, “alright, we'll see what we can do,” he finally said. 

“Great,” Louis said, grinning widely again. He did so love it when he got his way. 

“In the meantime, I could email you and the boys a few other songs to consider,” Julian suggested. 

“Sure, send a copy of this song to the boys as well. I want them to hear one of our new songs,” Louis told them. 

“Potential new song,” Jamie corrected. “Don't get ahead of yourself.” 

“I'm just being casually optimistic,” Louis said, that same satisfied grin on his face. 

>>>>

Louis wished he could say 'casually optimistic' still applied to him a couple of weeks later, when he finally got home to his London flat after a seemingly endless tour around Europe. Mainly, he was just tired. Tired of touring, tired of singing, tired of writing-- he was just tired of everything. The only thing he wanted to do was to bury himself under a pile of pillows and blankets and hibernate for the rest of their month-long break. He barely even got his shoes off before he was stumbling into bed and succumbing to some much needed sleep. 

And that was when the dreams started again. 

It was the same dream he'd been having for the past few weeks: he was sitting on the ground in a small garden somewhere in the middle of the city, bits of grass stuck to his hair and grass stains on his newest pair of Vans. He was humming tunes he's never heard before, his fingers tracing constellations sparkling in the clear night sky. Then he turned to someone beside him, and he grinned so wide, he felt his face start to hurt. Louis could never make out their face, not even the color of their hair or what they wore, only that when he looked at them, he felt warm and perfect and inexplicably happy. Happy like he hadn't been in a long while. 

Of course no matter how much he'd like to bask in that happy feeling, something would eventually yank him away from his perfect, little dreamland. This time it was his mobile ringing shrilly somewhere in the vicinity of his ear. When he cracked an eye open to search for it, he realized it was suspiciously still light out. 

He found his mobile under his pillow and saw it was Julian calling him. 

“Yeah?” Louis croaked. 

“Where are you? Should we reschedule the meeting?” he asked. 

“Huh? What time'sit?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“It's 11. We were supposed to meet at 10:30?” Julian told him. “The bosses agreed to give you Through the Dark, you know?” 

“Oh?” Louis asked, suddenly wide awake. “That's great news.” At least something went Louis' way for a change. 

“Yeah. It is. You said you wanted to meet Liam today to discuss possible collabs with him, remember?” 

“Who?” Louis asked in confusion. 

“Liam. He wrote the song? You're the one who scheduled this meeting.” 

“I did?” Louis asked, then he remembered he set up a meeting just before he got on the plane back to London. “I did. Fuck,” he said. “Sorry. Is he there yet? I can—” 

“No. He's running late too. Should we just reschedule?” Julian asked. “I've got a studio session in an hour. It's not gonna work out for me anymore.” 

“Right. How about you just send me his number and I'll be the one to contact him?” Louis asked. 

“Yeah that'd be best. I'm sending it to you now.” 

“Thanks, mate,” Louis said. 

“Oh and Lou?” Julian asked. 

“Yeah?” 

“Get some rest, man. You sound terrible.” 

“I'm planning to do nothing but rest. Don't worry,” he said before he hung up. 

His phone beeped and he looked at the contact information sent to him of one Big Payno. 

“Sounds like a real twat,” Louis scoffed. Then again, he had no room to judge. Julian had him as 'The Tommo' on his phone, so he guessed they were pretty even in that respect. 

He dialed the number, and his call went straight to voice mail. “Hey, so this is Louis Tomlinson. Julian gave me your number. Sorry I couldn't make it today. But call me back so we can meet up some time, maybe try to see if we could work on a few songs together. Loved Through the Dark, by the way. Great song. Thanks for giving it to us. And erm, I guess that's it. Yeah. I look forward to hearing from you.” 

As soon as he ended the call, he looked at his phone screen and groaned when it finally sunk in that it was nearly noon. He'd been asleep for almost a full day. His head was aching and his bladder was complaining and oh, he had a slew of missed calls and text messages too, all from Zayn. 

**Z:**

_I can't believe you stood up my mate. He was waiting for you all night!_

_Don't be a miserable twat and just answer your phone._

_Answer your phone, you arsehole!_

_Forget it, this is the last time I'm trying to help you out._

_Your bits can shrivel up for all I care._

_Don't bother calling me. I won't be answering._

“Fuck,” Louis groaned. He completely forgot about that blind date. Not that he intended to go anyway, but he did at least plan to call Zayn to cancel it. Now he's furious with Louis, and Louis wasn't sure he was ready to deal with an angry Zayn at the moment. 

Still, despite Zayn's warning, he rang him up to offer some sort of apology, and left a voice mail instead when Zayn didn't pick up after the third try. 

“Hey, you've disappeared off the face of the planet again, I'm sure,” he began, his voice croaky and sleep heavy. “I'm sorry I forgot that date thing with...with... what's his name again?” Louis asked, cringing as he realized he sounded like the biggest asshole in the world for not even bothering to remember Zayn's friend's name. 

“I blame jetlag and my complete lack of basic human decency for that. I'll send your mate a... a fruit basket or summat as an apology, and we'll just talk whenever you like and you can insult me and my bits all you want. Okay? Right. So, yeah, sorry again, and have a fun holiday at home. Say hi to your sisters for me,” he said before he hung up. 

“That should be enough, I hope,” he told himself, tossing his phone somewhere on the other side of his bed before he got up to take care of his bladder. 

>>>>

One of the saddest things about living alone was being hungry and realizing there was absolutely nothing to eat in the house. 

Louis groaned and cursed his luck as he went through his kitchen again. The cupboards were completely empty save for a box of stale cereal and a tiny macaroni sculpture of his head that Niall did the last time they had movie night. The fridge was no better: a lone can of beer and a half-eaten sandwich that now looked like it would bite Louis' fingers off if he got any closer to it. 

The beer was the only option, and Louis drank nearly all of it in one go before he grabbed his green beanie and his car keys and headed out for a quick food run. 

>>>>

Louis managed to escape unnoticed when he made a mad dash through Tescos, grabbing all sorts of food and essentials for his self-imposed solitary confinement. Nobody even spared him a second glance as he dumped frozen dinners into his cart, his threadbare The Killers t-shirt and old trackies making him look more like a starving uni student than an international pop star. 

His success made him cocky enough to stop by his favorite corner coffee shop for some breakfast/lunch afterward. Once he was handed his sandwich and coffee, he turned to make a quick escape, only to bump into someone on the way out and nearly spill his coffee all over his shirt. 

“Fucking shi—” 

“Louis?” 

Louis looked up from his coffee in alarm to find himself face to face with Eleanor. 

He hadn't seen her since they broke up right before the tour started. It hadn't been pretty. For a split second, his world stopped turning and all he could focus on was how beautiful she looked with her hair done up like that, and why in the world did he even think it was okay for him to come out in public looking like roadkill? 

She probably didn't mind much because she immediately leaned forward for a hug and Louis stood there frozen for a heartbeat before he realized he needed to hug her back. 

“How long have you been back? ” she asked, smiling sweetly at him when they parted. 

“Uh, just yesterday,” he answered, eyes darting nervously around the coffee shop. People were starting to notice him, and a couple of girls already had their phones out, cameras pointed at their direction. This wasn't good. Soon there'd be pictures of them all over the net, and articles would come popping up about their breakup again. It was bad the first time around. He didn't need to relive that nightmare anytime soon. Or ever. 

He did the only thing he could think of. He panicked. 

“It was nice seeing you, very nice, but I got a, er, a thing, this thing, that I gotta thing, erm, yeah,” he stammered, going around her to get out of the door. 

“Oh, okay,” he heard her say, but he didn't stay long enough to see her disappointed face again. He never could stand to see her sad because of him. 

He didn't realize he was running until he was in his car, panting heavily as he sped his black Porsche away, his sandwich and cup of coffee dumped unceremoniously on the passenger seat. It was a miracle he still had any coffee left in his paper cup to spill on the seat, but he didn't care. He just needed to get away, back to the safety of his home, where no one would judge him by the way he looked or make stories about his breakup with El like it was their business, and no one would think he was useless and untalented just because he couldn't pen decent songs for the band anymore. He just wanted to be alone. Alone, he was safe. Alone he could retreat to his dreamland where he was happy and perfect and warm. Alone, he could— 

There was a blur of brown right in front of Louis' car and he hit the brakes so hard, the sound of screeching tires was all he could hear ringing in his ears. And then, the impact. 

For a second time that day, Louis felt his world stop turning. 

“Oh fuck.” 


	2. Chapter 2

“Louis the Dog Killer. Nah, it just doesn't have that much of a punch, to be honest.” 

“Harry!” Louis hissed angrily on his phone. He was sat at the waiting room of an animal hospital, trying to make himself as small as possible while the other people in the room kept looking at him with curious eyes. They definitely recognized him. Shit. “You're not helping the situation at all,” Louis said, burying his face in his hand. “And the dog's not dead, _Jesus_. He's still in the operating room. Broken leg at the most, the vet said.” 

“Well that's a relief,” Harry said. “We could scratch Tommo the Puppy Annihilator off of The Sun's possible headlines tomorrow.” 

Louis suddenly wished this was a video call just so Harry could see the scalding glare he was giving his phone right now. “I don't know why I even bothered calling you.” 

“Because Zayn's turned his phone off again and you needed someone to tell you you're not a completely terrible person for hitting a dog with your car?” Harry ventured. 

“Right, of course,” Louis agreed. He should've called Niall instead. “I should've called Niall.” 

“He's out golfing somewhere in Ireland,” Harry reminded him. 

“Oh yeah. You're right,” Louis conceded. 

“And you're not a completely terrible person, Louis,” Harry added sincerely. 

“Yes, thank you, Harold,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

“It was nothing,” Harry answered, completely missing the sarcasm in Louis voice. “So, is Susan there yet?” he asked. 

Louis glanced toward the front desk, where Susan, their PR manager was talking rapidly on her phone. No doubt she was already plotting ways to spin this in their favor and talking to their lawyers to draft non-disclosure agreements for the hospital staff, especially after she smelled faint traces of alcohol in Louis' breath. “I'm not drunk! It was one beer. One!” Louis had reasoned out to her, but she was having none of it. “Just sit by the corner and try not to make things worse,” she had hissed, before turning to talk to the receptionist. 

“Yeah, she's here alright,” Louis confirmed. “You think it's reached the Internet yet?” he asked, cringing at the thought of what sort of backlash this would generate online. 

“Uhh...” Harry said, and Louis could just tell he was trying to phrase his next words as delicately as possible. “None of the actual accident, I think. Oh, but there is a picture making the rounds of you carrying the dog into your car. Most people are assuming you got a new dog as a post-break-up companion.” 

“Oh god,” Louis groaned, pulling his oversized beanie off his head so he could cover his face. “Why do people still think I'm torn up about El?” he asked, voice muffled. 

Louis didn't bother listening to Harry's reply, as he heard the door to the operating room swing open and his head snapped up so fast, he saw stars for a second. 

“Mr. Tomlinson?” the vet asked. 

When the static cleared from Louis' vision, he saw the vet walking towards him with a small smile on her face. That was good, right? She didn't look like she was about to strangle him for killing a dog. 

“Is that—?” Harry asked. 

“Yeah... I'll call you back,” Louis said before ending the call abruptly and pocketing his phone. “That's me,” Louis said to the vet, standing up and fixing his beanie back over his head just to have something to do with his hands. He'd never been this nervous since X-factor. 

Susan strode over to them, phone still pressed against her ear. “What are we looking at here, doctor?” she asked, her free hand coming to rest against Louis' shoulder, and Louis had the impression she was holding on to him to stop him from bolting in case there was bad news. She was a smart woman, Louis would give her that. 

“Well, most of his injuries are superficial, including the cut on his head,” she said, and immediately Louis felt his shoulders sag in relief. 

“Oh thank fuck,” Louis sighed. 

“There was no internal injury and his broken front leg seems to be the worst of it. He's set to make a full recovery,” the vet added. 

“That's good, that's really good to hear,” Susan said, though it was obvious she wasn't thinking about the dog's welfare at all. “Excuse me,” she said before turning away to give attention to her phone again. 

“He's still out, but would you like to see him?” the vet asked. 

“Oh, uh, yeah sure,” Louis said, following her into the recovery room. 

The dog certainly looked smaller than Louis remembered, lying unconscious in a pen with a large cut stitched up on his forehead and a cast on his right front leg. “He looks terrible,” Louis said honestly, crouching next to the pen. 

“He's a fighter, this one,” she said fondly, stroking the soft brown strands of curling hair on the dog's nape. “Have you any idea who the owner is?” 

“Not a clue. He's a stray, I think,” Louis said, and he couldn't resist bopping the dog's nose. The dog didn't even twitch in his sleep. 

“If I'm not mistaken, he's a Labradoodle,” the vet added. “And he looks like he's been well taken cared of... so far.” 

Louis cringed. “Great. I ran over some little kid's puppy. What's gonna happen to him now?” 

“Normally, we try to look for the owner through ads on local pet stores and our website. If no one comes to claim him, we'll put him up for adoption at the local shelter.” 

“Adoption?” Louis asked weakly. He knew what happened to strays that didn't get adopted. He was already starting to get attached to this dog, and it had only been a couple of hours. 

“That won't be necessary,” Susan interjected, entering the room and closing the door behind her with a click. She had that look on her face that Louis knew from experience only meant trouble. “Louis, you'll adopt it,” Susan declared. 

“What?!” was Louis high pitched squeak. 

“Adopt the dog, Louis,” Susan repeated. “It's not up for discussion.” 

“Of course it is!” Louis protested, standing up and puffing his chest, satisfied to see that he's at least an inch taller than her, even in those heels. “You're talking to me, everything is up for discussion.” 

“The policy is to wait 30 days for claims until an animal is put up for adoption,” the vet clarified. 

“Ah, see? Nothing can be done. Sorry, love,” Louis said, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. 

“Doc, where will the dog stay until he's put up for adoption?” Susan asked, and by the confident look on her face, it seemed she already knew the answer to her question. 

“Well,” she began, glancing at Louis as if deciding whether to tell them or not. “We have volunteers who foster the animals until they're claimed or—” 

“Then Louis graciously volunteers,” she said immediately. 

“I most certainly do not,” Louis protested, crossing his arms across his chest. He would not budge this time. 

>>>>

“I budged.” 

“Of course you did,” Harry said, as if it's the most natural thing. 

“I have a dog, Harry. A dog!” Louis said, voice raising with every syllable. He'd just gotten back to his flat, deposited the dog in the kitchen, took a quick shower to get the dog smell off of him, and promptly collapsed on his bed. 

He'd spent another few hours in the animal hospital, getting instructions on how to care for the dog's injuries and ironing out the details of his fostering of the dog. Before he knew it, it was way too late in the afternoon already, and he was carrying the dog from his car to his flat with a small gaggle of paps capturing the 'candid, heart warming moment.' Louis wanted to gag. 

“It can't be that bad. It's just a puppy. You've had dogs before,” Harry pointed out. 

“It's a full grown Labradoodle, Harold. It's far from a puppy,” Louis complained. 

“But he's adorable!” Harry cooed. “I love that signature you put on his cast. Almost as much as I love the drawing of a dick next to it. It's a nice touch.” 

Louis sighed in defeat. “Pap pics all over the Internet now, huh?” 

“Yeah. Pretty much,” Harry said almost apologetically. 

“Susan's idea. Everything's Susan's idea,” Louis said, pulling at his hair in exasperation. 

“On the plus side, people actually think you saved and adopted an injured dog instead of, you know...” 

“I know. Why is this my luck?” Louis groaned, burying his face on his pillow. 

“So what are you naming him?” Harry asked, completely uninterested in Louis' moping. 

“I'm not naming him,” Louis said petulantly. “I'm calling him Dog until I could get rid of him.” 

“Louis!” Harry hissed in outrage. “Don't talk about Dog like that. None of this is his fault.” 

Louis felt a little guilty at that. He pulled the pillow off from his face and hugged it instead. “Should I call him 'Harold' then? He's curly like you.” 

“You would?” Harry said, a hopeful lilt in his voice. 

“Of course not,” Louis said. “Little boy's a lot cuter than you.” 

“Ah, you're probably right. Can't compete with a face like that. Look at those big, brown eyes!” Harry said. 

“Stop looking at pics of the dog on Twitter, Harry,” Louis chided. 

“But--” 

“He's adorable, I get it,” Louis said with a roll of his eyes. 

Then, the doorbell rang and Louis shot up from his bed. “Fucking finally. Pizza's here,” he said, grabbing his wallet from the night stand. “Haven't eaten anything all day.” 

“Pizza again? Does it at least have vegetables on it?” Harry asked. 

“Don't care so long as it's edible. Now excuse me, I have a date with Mr. Pepperoni and Cheese,” Louis said before ending the call. 

>>>>

He got the pizza and set it down on his kitchen counter, glancing at the dog quietly looking at him from the corner. “You want some of this, mate?” he asked, taking a slice out of the box and waving it in the air. The dog's ears perked up and he sat up in attention. “Well too bad, you're on strict kibble diet while you're here with me. Doctor's orders,” he said before stuffing his mouth with as much pizza as he could. 

The dog obviously didn't understand, because it stood up from it's brand new bed and wobbled next to Louis, looking up at him with the most heartbreaking puppy dog eyes Louis had ever seen. Louis immediately felt so bad, he wanted to give the whole pizza to him, and the rest of his newly stocked fridge's contents as well. 

“Alright, that was mean of me. Sorry, bud,” Louis apologized, patting the dog on the head to hopefully appease him. “You know just how adorable you are and you're using it against me, aren't you?” 

The dog's response was to bump its nose against Louis' knee and continue to look up at the pizza in Louis' hand like it was the Holy Grail. 

“Noooo,” Louis said, bringing the pizza away from the dog. “Pizza's not good for you, I swear,” he said, scratching the dog's ear with his other hand as he continued to eat. “And sorry about your, er, leg. And that, too,” he said, running gentle fingers along the sides of the cut on on the dog's head. It already looked much better, like it was a few days old already instead of the horrific mess of blood and torn skin it was just hours ago. The vet must have been really good, or Louis' brain was just coloring his memory of the accident, making it seem worse that it actually was. 

“Really sorry. But it's your fault too, you muppet. You shouldn't run across a street like that. Ever. All right?” he told him. “Not a smart thing to do, running around in the city. You could've gotten it so much worse. What if it were a bus, eh? Or heaven forbid, Harry's Range Rover?” 

The dog just tilted his head to the side and licked the pizza grease off of Louis' fingers. “'Ayy, that's enough,” Louis said, pulling his fingers away. “You're one lucky fellow, you know that?” he said, adjusting the leather collar around the dog's neck. It was a nice collar, one of those fleece padded things that didn't bite against the dog's neck. There was a small patch of darker brown fur on the dog's neck that curled delicately against the top of the collar, and Louis scratched his fingers against it. 

It was astounding how calming it was just to sit quietly and run his hands through the dog's soft fur. The dog's owner probably sat with him during lazy afternoons, watching telly or reading a book while stroking the dog's soft, curly hair. The dog certainly seemed to love it, eyes going half lidded as Louis continued to scratch his nails against that peculiar brown patch on his neck. 

“Soon your real owner will be here and you can go back to your home. Get your real name back,” he said, fingers going down to smooth across the empty space on the dog tag where a name would've been engraved. 

The setting sun glinted against the metal dog tag, and Louis had to squint against the light. He cursed under his breath and walked towards the window to close the blinds. He watched the orange and red hues that colored the sky for a few seconds. “This has been one crazy day,” he said to himself before he shut the blinds. 

When he turned around, the dog was up on its hind legs and snatching a slice of pizza from the box. “Oi, you cheeky, little—” Louis said, chasing the dog away, but not before the dog had scarfed down a slice already. 

“That's it. You're not getting' any treats,” he said, picking the pizza box off the counter. The dog just looked at him with an innocent expression. “And no more pizza too, you four-legged demon spawn,” Louis said, grabbing the pizza box possessively. He strode to the fridge to grab a beer and decided to relocate into his bedroom. 

The dog was close at his heels but Louis gently pushed him away with a socked foot as he entered his room. “Sorry, bud. Bad boys don't go in my bedroom,” he said, “Or any other boy for that matter,” he added as an afterthought. “Wow, maybe I do need to get laid,” Louis muttered irritably as he closed the door, ignoring the dog's pitiful puppy face. “I hate it when Zayn's right,” Louis said before getting another slice from the box and flopping onto his bed. He turned the TV on and switched to a movie channel showing Avengers and got ready for a long night of doing nothing. 

>>>>

Louis dozed off ten minutes into the movie, beer still in hand, when a loud clang jolted him awake. “Wha—?” Louis said, half asleep. 

When his brain caught up with reality, he remembered he left the dog roaming around his apartment instead of locking him up in the dog crate Susan so thoughtfully bought for him. “Fucking dog,” he said, scrambling out of his bed to check what kind of trouble the dog got into now. 

He yanked his door open and stomped to his kitchen, ready to chew the dog out, “I swear if you fucking broke anythi—” 

Louis stopped dead in his tracks, gaping as the words were stuck in his throat. Because in his kitchen, amidst his fallen container of cutlery, stood a very confused, very fit... 

...and very naked man. 

The stranger stood frozen in the middle of the kitchen and looked at Louis with wide, horrified eyes. 

Louis wasn't proud of how long he stared at that endless expanse of tan skin and those rippling abs (and even lower to what hung between the man's thighs), before his self-preservation instincts finally kicked in. 

“YAAaaAAAaaaHHhh!” He screamed like a banshee, grabbing the nearest object to defend himself. Of course it was a metal mixing spoon that his fingers latched onto, but he didn't care. He brandished the mixing spoon like a sword, spooking the stranger into retreating to the farthest corner of the kitchen. “Who the fuck are you?! What are you doing in my flat?!” he said, pointing the spoon threateningly at the naked man and trying his best to keep his gaze above the belt. 

“I don't know— I don't, honest. Please put the spoon away,” the naked man said in panic, raising his hands in surrender, and Louis was most definitely not looking at his bulging biceps as he did so. 

“What do you mean you 'don't know'?” Louis asked, banging the large metal spoon on the counter top and making the man jolt in fear again. “You a thief? A crazy fan?” he asked. 

Then he noticed the man was wearing a dog collar on his neck, an identical collar to the one his new dog was wearing, and Louis flipped. “And what the fuck are you doing wearing my dog's collar? Is this some sort of fucked up sex thing? More importantly, why are you _naked_?” 

“I don't know!” the intruder answered, voice going up a couple of octaves as his hands came down to cover himself and what's left of his dignity. 

“Shit, did Harry send you as a joke? I'm gonna kill that flower boy, I swear,” Louis said, eyes going wild with rage. “No wait, oh my god, are you a _stalker_?” 

“A sta— no! Of course not. I don't even know you or this Harry you're talking about--” the man anxiously replied. 

“This must be some kind of prank. Where's my dog? What did you do to him?” Louis asked, quickly looking around the kitchen for the injured dog. 

“What dog? There's no dog here. Oh god, what is this thing, it's choking me,” he said, pulling at the dog collar on his neck. His large hands fumble around the collar before he managed to unfasten it and tossed it to the floor in something akin to disgust. He rubbed his neck gingerly, and Louis noticed a peculiar birthmark on his neck that eerily reminded him of the patch of dark brown fur on the dog's neck. 

Louis gaped. “No way,” he whispered, noting how the man had these ridiculous brown puppy dog eyes and how his hair was the same color as the dog's fur and curled softly where it was longer at the top of his head. “No fucking way,” Louis said again, louder this time. Why did he even correlate the two? It was insane. He was going insane. “I must be drunk. Or still asleep. This is probably a really weird dream,” he mumbled to himself. 

“I've been telling myself that since I woke up, but I'm still here,” the man said, eyes nervously darting around the kitchen. “I don't even know where here is.” 

“You!” Louis said threateningly. “You better tell me what's going on here or I'm calling the police on you. And my security team. Alberto's a monster. It's not gonna be pretty.” 

“I told you, I don't know what's going on. Don't even know where I am,” the man insisted, trembling hands going up to run his fingers through his hair, and Louis noticed a ragged scar on the man's forehead that was the exact same shape as the one on his dog's head. 

“Impossible,” Louis whispered, even as the man continued to talk rapidly. 

“My arm hurts like I've broken it in two, except it's not. Obviously. I can move it, right? But my head hurts like crazy too and I feel so sore, like I've just been run over by a car. I know it sounds mental... I know _I_ sound mental, but I literally just woke up like five minutes ago and I was on your kitchen floor and I seriously can't remember a thing!” he explained, then his face fell when he registered what he'd just said. 

He took a long pause, face going pale as the reality of the situation began to sink in. “I can't remember a thing,” he repeated, softer this time. He looked at his hands shaking in front of him, and then up at Louis, and Louis couldn't help but think the horror in his big, brown eyes was genuine. “Why can't I remember anything?” 

His voice sounded so broken that Louis felt his temper start to slowly simmer down. How in the world could you stay angry at someone who looked at you like an abandoned puppy? It was impossible. “Alright, let's not have a breakdown in my kitchen,” Louis said in a calmer tone. “There's gotta be a perfectly logical explanation to all of this. My best bet is you're obviously still pretty high with whatever you smoked,” Louis concluded. 

“I'm not high. I mean, I don't think I am. But I can't remember... oh god, maybe I _am_ on drugs. I'm a druggie and I broke into your flat. And I'm naked. Oh god, why am I naked? Why can't I remember? I can't even remember my name. What is going on here? Why can't I remember?” he said, arms gesturing wildly around him. 

Louis could tell he was starting to completely lose it, going from devastated to hysterical in record time. He was hyperventilating too, if the rapid rise and fall of his massive and deliciously hairy chest was any indication. (Louis couldn't help but notice, alright? He was a healthy young man, with an equally healthy young, naked man in front of him. He was allowed to appreciate the good things life threw at him sometimes, no matter how weird the situation). 

“Stop, alright? Just stop!” Louis said, banging the spoon on the counter again. 

“I'm not gonna stop, you stop it with— with that giant spoon! You're freaking me out!” the man said, almost in tears. 

“I'm freaking you out? You're freaking me out!” Louis countered. “This is my flat. I'm allowed to freak out. There's a naked man wearing my dog's collar in my flat, I think I'm allowed a little bit of freaking out. You, you on the other hand,” Louis said, pointing the spoon at him threateningly, and dear god it almost looked like there was genuine fear in his eyes, “You don't get to do anything but calm down so we can figure this shit out.” 

“Okay, okay,” the man said, taking deep breaths. “I'll try to calm down,” he said, smoothing his sweaty palms against his thighs, and Louis instinctively followed the movement with his eyes. Damn, he was fit. 

“Argh! I can't do this!” Louis said, raising his arms in defeat and looking skyward. “You stay right there and don't move a muscle,” Louis ordered, turning around to yank a cupboard open. He grabbed an apron and tossed it at the man. 

“What's this?” the man said, catching the apron deftly in one hand. 

“Wear that. I can't concentrate with you all—” Louis said, gesturing wildly in the air. 

The man spread it out in front of him, and the look of confusion on his handsome face was so adorable, Louis had the urge to kiss that pout off of his lips. “You're serious? It's a Minnie Mouse apron,” he said incredulously, looking at the polka dotted red and white apron like it was the most hideous thing in the world. 

“It was a gift alright? And it's better than seeing— oh just put it on, will you?” Louis ordered. 

“Alright, alright!” the man relented, donning the apron and sending Louis a glare that only made him look like an angry bunny. “I look ridiculous. Like I came straight from a weird porno,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“Just shut it, okay? You don't get to complain,” he said, unable to stop himself from sniggering at the man's expense. He did look ridiculous, in a 'funny yet oddly sexy at the same time' sort of way. 

The man pouted adorably, but at least he wasn't hyperventilating and about to pass out on Louis, so that was a good sign. Plus, he was partly covered already, which was good for Louis too. Maybe Louis could finally start to think straight. 

“Are we good? Not feeling like you're freaking out?” Louis asked carefully. 

“Not freaking out. But I'd feel better if you put the spoon down,” he said, nodding his head towards the mixing spoon in Louis' hand. 

“It's just a spoon,” Louis scoffed. 

“Not the way you were swinging it about, it wasn't,” the man replied. “You could do some serious damage with that thing.” 

“Alright, alright,” Louis said, tossing the spoon towards the sink. “But if you suddenly get nuclear on me, I swear to god that spoon'll be the least of your problems.” 

“Anyone ever tell you that you have a terrible temper?” the man quipped. 

Louis raised an eyebrow. “I think I'm allowed a temper when weird shit starts happening in my kitchen.” 

“Fair enough,” the man conceded. 

“So, naked boy,” Louis began, hopping onto a bar stool and crossing his legs in front of him. “You can't remember your name or how you got here. What _do_ you remember?” 

“Uh...” the man said, thinking long and hard. 

“Oh come on, you must remember something?” Louis urged. 

The man's eyes closed and his thick brows furrowed in concentration. “It's all a big jumble, really.” 

“Just try,” Louis said, a little bit more impatiently this time. “Go on, spell it out, all those images you see. No matter how stupid it sounds. It might make some sense if you say them out loud.” 

“A-alright,” the man said, unsure. “This is gonna sound— agh, what the hell?” he said, shrugging as he opened his eyes. “I can't remember my name exactly, but I think it starts with an L?” 

“Not a fucking chance,” Louis spat out. 

“Why not?” the man said, appalled by Louis' outburst. 

“You're just saying that because my name starts with an 'L',” Louis explained. 

“I don't even remember my name, what makes you think I'd remember yours? And copy it too?” the man said. 

Louis opened his mouth to retort, but shut it again when he realized the man was being completely and sincerely serious. “You honestly can't remember your name?” Louis confirmed. 

“No, only that it starts with an L?” he said. “Maybe. I think. I dunno. What's your name?” 

“Louis,” Louis answered. “Don't copy it!” he added quickly. “And please don't say your name is Lewis—” 

“Why would I? I've got a name, it's— it's—” the man said, face scrunching in concentration as he struggled to form the name on his lips. “It's at the tip of me tongue, I swear.” 

“Just stop it. You're gonna rupture a blood vessel, Leonard,” Louis told him. 

“Not Leonard,” he quickly replied. 

“Leo?” Louis ventured. 

“Not Leo, Leon, Leonard, Leonardo, or whatever else name starts with Leo. That's not it.” 

“Ha! How would you know?!” Louis said, letting out a frustrated laugh. 

“I just know, alright?” the man said, and really, his sulking face was all kinds of adorable. 

“Alright Lucas, whatever you say.” 

“Not that, too,” the man said, distractedly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Listen, can I—” he said, a blush starting to color his cheeks. 

“Can you what, Lance?” Louis asked, arching an eyebrow in the way that he knew intimidated people. He may or may not be having fun watching the other man squirm. 

“When are you gonna stop calling me every name that starts with an L?” he asked. 

“When I finally get your name right. So what is it, my dear Lucy?” Louis asked, waggling his eyebrows. 

The man rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself. “Can I get something else to wear?” he asked timidly. 

“What? My Minnie Mouse apron not good enough, Luke?” Louis asked. 

“Still wrong,” he said, shaking his head. “And its a bit drafty, alright? Kinda hard to concentrate when me bum's hanging out back here and I'm slowly starting to freeze me peanuts off.” 

“Well, when you put it that way...” Louis said with a laugh as he hopped off the bar stool. “Fine, follow me, Lucius,” he said, turning around to make his way to his bedroom. 

“What? Like Malfoy?” the man looked at Louis like he was the one who was crazy. And maybe he was. Maybe this was all one crazy dream where Louis' dog miraculously turned into the human personification of his wet dreams, and honestly, Louis didn't care anymore. He was just going with the flow, to see how things would progress. He was, oddly enough, having a bit of fun for once. 

“Oh, so you forgot your name but you can get Harry Potter references?” Louis asked incredulously. “What kind of amnesiac are you?” 

“The kind that would be glad for some pants right now,” the man replied. 

“Unfortunately, I don't stock pants in various sizes for unexpected naked guests, and I doubt you'd want to wear mine,” Louis said, and it was definitely not hot to think of this sexy stranger wearing one of Louis' boxers. They'd be on the side of too small and it would just come real tight around all the right places. 

Okay, maybe it was a little bit hot. 

Louis shook his head to get his mind out of the gutter. Had he been out of the game for far too long that just being near someone so fit had him immediately gagging for it? “Get a grip, Tommo,” he whispered to himself. 

“I'd go for some joggers then, if you have any,” the man said, following Louis out the kitchen and into the living room. 

“You want the thick wool ones?” Louis asked distractedly, taking a quick glance around the living room and expecting to see his new dog snuggled up somewhere, just so he could maybe stop thinking he was having the weirdest dream of his life. He was unsurprised when there wasn't even a single trace of the dog. “That way, you might not remember your name, but at least your peanuts would be cozy, eh?” Louis said, looking back his shoulder and giving the man a wink and a sly grin. 

“That's the idea.” 

“Great, walk this way, Leeroy.” 

“Oh! Oh! Li!” the man gasped. “That's it. I'm Li!” 

Louis stopped and looked back at him. He had a smile so wide and so bright, Louis swore he could hear angels singing from the high heavens. 

“My name is Li,” he said triumphantly. “L-I, not L-E-E. Dunno if it my initials or if it's short for something, but at least it's something. Isn't this great?” he said, laughter and excitement bubbling in his throat, his joy was positively contagious. 

“Congratulations, Li,” Louis said sincerely, a wide grin splitting his face. “Now let's get you some clothes. How do you feel about stripes?” 


	3. Chapter 3

There were two things that Louis discovered once he got over the initial shock of naked Li in his kitchen. One: Li was so fit, it was bordering on ridiculous. That face, those arms, that broad chest... he was exactly Louis' type. 

Two: Li remembered very little, and what he did remember made zero sense. 

“Let me get this straight,” Louis began, setting his second beer of the night down on the table. They were in the living room, eating what's left of Louis' cold pizza, and trying to make some sense of what was going on. “Peter Pan tried to kill you with... the Batmobile.” 

“Uh-huh. He even had 'Killer' written on his shirt. Real sinister stuff,” Li replied, taking a large bite off the pizza. 

“That's just ridiculous,” Louis said, laughing. Until he saw a piece of pepperoni fall off of Li's pizza and onto his borrowed AC/DC shirt, and the laughter immediately died in Louis' throat. Li refused most of his striped shirts, saying they were too small, so Louis looked through his stash of band shirts, thinking the one with The Killers on it would've fit him better, but remembered it was already in the laundry. He was wearing it when he went out, and when he hit the dog with his car. 

His car, which happened to be his black Porsche. His Batmobile. 

“Shit,” Louis said, dropping the can of beer on the floor, and immediately scrambling to get it before it completely soaked the rug. 

“What's wrong?” Li asked in concern, stuffing his mouth with the last of his pizza. 

“I think _I'm_ Peter Pan,” Louis said, throat going dry. Everything was starting to fall in place. 

“What?” Li asked in disbelief. “No way.” 

“I hit you with my car. See that?” he asked, pointing to a framed picture on the mantle with Louis and his sisters hanging off him, the black Porsche in the background. “Look like the Batmobile to you?” 

“Uh...” Li said, squinting at the picture. “I don't know--” 

“Only, I didn't hit a man. I hit a dog,” Louis told him. 

“Right,” Li said. “I think you've had enough of these,” he said, plucking the beer from Louis' fingers. 

“I'm serious,” Louis said, snatching the beer back from Li. “I hit a dog. Curly brown hair, big brown eyes, a small patch of darker fur on it's neck. I took it to the vet. It had a cut on it's forehead and a broken right front leg,” Louis told him. 

Li refused to look at Louis and absentmindedly cradled his sore right arm to his chest. “Don't joke around like that. It's not funny anymore.” 

“Hate to break it to you, lad. But you're a dog,” was Louis' final blow. 

Li was silent for a while, clearly trying to digest what Louis was saying despite his brain telling him it was beyond ridiculous. It was too much and Li took a deep breath before he looked up at Louis again and said, “I think I'd like to sleep now.” 

“Oh right, right,” Louis said, getting off the couch. May he had been a tad too harsh? How do you tell someone you think they were a dog without sounding crazy? This was turning out to be one hell of a dream. “You can sleep here. Guest bedroom's not exactly livable right now...” Louis said. 

“Thanks,” Li said, relocating to the couch and plopping dejectedly down on it. 

“Wait a sec,” Louis said, turning on his heel to grab a blanket and an extra pillow for his guest. It was the least he could do. 

“You're being awfully nice,” Li said with a sad smile as he accepted the pillow and the blanket. 

“It's nothing,” Louis shrugged. “Hey, sorry for calling you a 'dog'. I don't know why I even said that,” Louis lied. Everything pointed to Li being the dog. It was the explanation that made the most sense, whether Louis himself wanted to believe it or not. “I've been told I could be very rude at times,” he offered up. 

Li scoffed lightly like he wasn't about to argue with that. Then he shrugged as he said, “Eh, you're probably right. It's a good theory. Right now, it's better than this endless blank space I encounter every time I try to remember stuff.” 

Well that was a depressing thought. “Who knows? Maybe you'll remember more when you wake up?” Louis said, trying to be the positive one for a change. 

Li shrugged again. “I'm tired,” he said, spreading the blanket and curling himself into a ball under it. Then he looked up, and smiled at Louis, a genuine smile this time, even as Louis could see the sadness in his eyes. “Thanks, Louis.” 

“For what?” Louis asked softly, standing next to the couch awkwardly and trying to ignore his impulse to fix the blanket where it was folded and Li's toes were peeking out. 

“For a lot of things, I suppose. Not calling the police being one of them. I don't think I'd enjoy sleeping in jail tonight.” 

Louis paused as he thought he'd probably wouldn't like it if Li slept anywhere else either. Especially in the state he was in. Whatever his deal was, they'd figure it out in the morning. “You can thank me by fixing up breakfast when you wake up,” Louis told him. 

Li chuckled and Louis felt a tinge of satisfaction that even if he was clueless about this whole thing, at least he could somehow make Li smile. “I can't even remember if I know how to cook,” was Li's answer. 

“So long as you don't burn the place down trying to remember, I'll be very pleased,” Louis answered, turning to retreat to his own room for the night. 

“G'night Lou,” Louis heard Li say. 

“Good night,” Louis replied, unable to help the fond smile from taking over his face. The last image he remembered was of Li, curled up on the couch with his toes sticking out of the edge of the blanket. It was astounding how at times Li could be this sexy David Beckham doppleganger that Louis would like to mount like a horse, and other times he was like this: soft and warm like a fluffy puppy, or a teddy bear that woke Louis protective side and made him want to just spend hours cuddled next to. In fact, if Louis were a weaker man, he'd go up to Li at that moment and squeeze himself into the couch next to him, hug him and press his nose against his neck until the city woke up around them. 'Who knows? Maybe tomorrow night,' Louis thought, a small smile playing on his lips. 

If this was a dream, then he wished he could stay asleep forever. 

>>>>

Louis woke up the next day with a start, eyes wide open in an instant and his lips gasping out “Li” with a startled breath. Memories of the day before had his heart pounding and his limbs flailing to get himself untangled from the sheets. He stumbled towards his door to yank it open, but not before hastily fixing his fringe to try and make it at least a little bit presentable (hey, there was a fit bloke in his flat. Couldn't blame a guy for trying). Then, with baited breath, he opened his door and peered outside. 

The rest of the flat was quiet, as quiet as one would expect if one lived alone. Except Louis was pretty sure he left Li sleeping on his couch, even gave him a pillow and a blanket to use. But the couch was empty, no Li or pillow or blanket in sight. There were a couple of beer cans on the floor and the empty pizza box on the table, evidence that Louis did move his dinner and drinking into the living room at some point. However, there was nothing else. He was alone. 

Louis sighed and dropped down on the couch, cradling his aching head. So it was all one crazy dream. 

Li wasn't real. Of course he wasn't. Dogs don't change into humans (sexy, teddy bear/ Beckham hybrid humans). That was just ridiculous. 

Just when he finally got himself convinced, Louis saw something move, and he turned to follow the movement. He got up slowly and peered across the center table, wary of what he might see. 

He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding when he saw it was just the dog, shifting in it's sleep as it was curled on top of a pile of clothes. “It's only you,” Louis said in relief. 

Dog opened its eyes and gazed sleepily up at Louis, and that's when Louis realized something wasn't right. 

“Where's your cast?” he asked in alarm. 

The dog titled it's head to the side and sat up slowly, and Louis felt a moment of panic before he realized the dog was using his right front leg as if nothing was wrong with it. 

“No way,” Louis breathed out, eyes taking in the barely visible scar on the dog's forehead. “You shouldn't be healing that fast,” he said, shaking his head. 

The dog shifted, stood on all four legs and that was when Louis noticed the particular pile of clothes it was sleeping on. It was one of Louis' old AC/DC shirts and a pair of thick, gray joggers. The exact set of clothes he lent Li the night before. 

“Holy shit.” 

>>>>

“I must be going crazy,” Louis said to himself for probably the hundredth time that day. 

Since the moment he woke up, he had not taken his eyes off of Dog. Not even long enough to take a shower or even a piss. He had a couple of empty Gatorade bottles. He was good. 

In the frenzy-filled minutes after Louis discovered Dog sleeping on his clothes, he had also come across his pillow and his blanket in a haphazard pile on the floor beside his couch. Now either his theory of Li changing into a dog was real, or he was so pissed last night that he imagined his dog as a sexy naked guy and offered it his clothes to wear and his couch to sleep on. He was silently hoping it wasn't the latter. 

“Can you understand me?” he asked Dog, who just tilted his head to the side. 

“You can understand me, right?” he asked again. “Bark once for 'yes' and twice for 'no'.” 

The dog just tilted its head to the side. 

“Oh come on, Li, work with me here,” Louis said in frustration. 

The dog's ears perked up at the name and he barked loudly once. 

Louis eyes went wide. “Li?” 

The dog barked again. 

“Haha I knew it!” Louis said, laughing almost hysterically. He couldn't believe this was happening, and yet it was, and he was beyond thrilled. “I'm not drunk or crazy. You can understand me!” Louis said in triumph. 

The dog barked again, tongue lolling to the side. It looked excited. 

“So that really is you, Li? You turned into a dog,” Louis stated. 

The dog nodded. 

“When did that happen? Oh right, can't explain it now, can you?” Louis said, giggling when the dog looked like it just rolled its eyes at him. 

“You know, I hate to say I told you so but— ouch!” Louis yelped when the dog nipped at his ankle in retaliation. 

“You little—” 

The dog—Li— barked angrily and glared at him. 

“Okay, okay. That was a bit outta line. But no biting, alright? Let's talk about this like two civilized adults. Are we clear?” Louis asked. 

Li nodded again. 

“Good. Now hold on for a hot sec. Need to take a wee. Bark if you feel like you're changing back into a human.” 

>>>>

“Feel like changing yet?” Louis asked, lazily changing channels as he lounged on his couch. It's been hours, and he's been talking to a dog all day, he was beginning to doubt he had sanity to begin with. 

The dog sighed heavily and just watched the channels flashing quickly on the telly. 

“How about now?” Louis asked. 

Dog Li sent him a bored look before turning to face the telly again. 

The sun was starting to set outside and it was beginning to grow dark in the flat, but Louis didn't even have the energy to turn the light on. 

“How about now?” he said again not even two minutes later. 

When the dog didn't even acknowledge his presence, Louis threw his hands up in frustration. “This is boring,” Louis said, turning to look at the dog lying on the floor. “It would've been so cool if you could transform at will,” he told him. “Like a superpower almost.” 

Li rolled his eyes and huffed. 

“Hey maybe if you could do all sorts of nifty tricks like, I dunno, dance the Macarena, we could be famous! Well, I'm already famous but— I suppose you could be my slightly less famous dog, and you could go on tour with me, maybe open for the band—” 

The dog looked at him in disbelief. 

“What? You think I'm taking the piss?” Louis said. “Oh right, I forgot, you don't know anything. Well I'll have you know, I'm famous. Like _proper_ famous. I'm Louis Tomlinson. The Tommo. I'm one fourth of the biggest boy band in the— are you laughing? Oh my god, you're laughing,” Louis said in annoyance. 

Dog Li was making this weird, wheezing noise like he was, indeed, laughing at Louis and Louis was having none of it. He dived off of the couch to tackle Li and pinch him on his furry side, and the dog yelped in between all his wheezing laughter. 

“You're a cheeky, little bugger you know that?” Louis said, attacking Li sides with little pinches that only seemed to tickle the dog and had him yowling with even more laughter. 

Louis pinched him particularly hard and the dog yelped loudly in pain, and Louis froze. “Whoops, sorry.” 

Li twisted away from him, tail between his legs and retreated to the other side of the center table away from Louis. 

“I forgot you're injured. I'm sorry, alright? Lemme see if I broke your arm again or summat,” Louis said, getting up on his feet to check on the dog. He may turn into a human at some point, but right now, he was Louis' dog and it was his responsibility to take care of him. “I didn't mean to—fucking hell!” Louis cursed when he stubbed his toe on the foot of the table. 

He turned instead to flick the light switch open lest he lose a toe the next time he fumbled in the dark. The sun had all but set outside his window, barely a glimmer of red left in the sky as Louis turned the switch on, flooding his living room with light. 

It was then that he noticed Dog Li twitching like he was in pain on the floor and he stepped toward him in alarm, only to stop midway when, right before his very eyes, the dog began to change in shape. “Well fuck me,” he said breathlessly as he watched the dog transform just as the last rays of the setting sun dissolved into the darkness outside. 

Within seconds, the curly brown fur vanished, replaced by tan skin and long limbs. And just as sudden as it happened, it was over, and Li, the human, was sitting on the floor with his head down. 

“Li?” Louis asked when he didn't move or say anything after a few seconds. 

Li looked up at Louis then, his big brown eyes wide with disbelief. “I turn into a dog!” he said breathlessly. 

“That's what I've been telling you,” Louis said, unable to stop the laughter from escaping his throat. 

It surprised him when Li started laughing as well. “There's some weird, supernatural stuff going on. It's mental!” he said, getting up and dusting off his noticeably naked legs again. 

Louis was definitely not staring. He wasn't. But was that a six or an eight pack? A six, yep. (He was, also, definitely not licking his lips). 

'No Louis, get a grip,' Louis mentally chastised himself. “Congratulations are in order again, I suppose. We've solved one big mystery,” Louis said. “You're a dog who turns into a human at night. Maybe as soon as the sun sets. I'm guessing you turn back at sunrise.” 

“You mean I'm a human who turns into a dog at sunrise and back to a human at sunset?” Li revised for Louis. 

“Mmm, its all a matter of perspective,” Louis said, eyes roaming anywhere but near Li's naked body and oh, hey, he never realized those glass fixtures on his ceiling lamp looked like little bubbles. Interesting. “We'll have to wait until sunrise to be sure,” Louis added. 

Li frowned, looking up at the ceiling and finding nothing of interest. Until it clicked and he looked down at himself and realized he was standing there stark naked yet again. “Oh,” Li said, realizing why Louis was pointedly looking at his ceiling. “Sorry I'm naked again,” he said bashfully, covering his bits with both hands. 

“Yup,” Louis said with a nod. “This is gonna be a big problem.” 

>>>>

“Stripes... stripes, and more stripes. And why are all your shirts so tiny? Don't you have bigger t-shirts?” Li asked, leaning over Louis as Louis dug through his closet. Beside them was a growing pile of rejected shirts, and a significantly smaller pile next to it that they both deemed were suitable for Li to wear. He was back in the AC/DC shirt and trackies from the night before, but as he so sensibly pointed out to Louis, he'd need at least a few more articles of clothing to get him through this whole supernatural mystery. 

“Oh shut up, you've got no right to judge,” Louis grumbled as he pulled out a Vans t-shirt and tossed it behind his shoulder at Li, who caught it before it smacked him in the face. “You turn into a fucking Labradoodle for crying out loud. Not even one of those manly dogs like Rottweilers or German Shepherds. No, you turn into a fluffy, curly, oversized lapdog.” 

“It's not like I can control any of this,” Li answered, and Louis could tell without even looking that he was probably pouting like the sad, little puppy that he was. “Could you at least ask anyone you know if I could borrow some clothes? Like maybe that Harry fellow you mentioned before, if he's, you know, more my size?” 

“What? Harold?” Louis asked like it was the most ridiculous suggestion in the world. “And say what? 'Oh my dog turns into a human at night and he refuses to wear my clothes. Fancy letting him borrow some of yours?'” Louis said in a high pitched voice. 

“Well not in that exact decibel, but yeah. Won't hurt, right?” Li asked. 

“You wanna borrow some of Harry's clothes,” Louis said slowly. 

“Not his, per se. Any clothes would do, so long as they're not tiny like—” 

“My clothes are not tiny!” Louis protested. 

“Sorry, sorry. I meant, so long as they'll fit me a little more comfortably,” Li corrected. “Don't wanna stretch out your shirts too much, do I?” 

Louis nodded, satisfied. “Alright, fine, I'll give him a call. Beware though: he likes floral.” 

Li shrugged. “I don't think I mind,” he said. “So you'll tell him about me? Can we, like, trust him?” 

Louis stopped his rummaging and gave it some serious thought. “Who Harry? He's harmless. But I don't know yet if anyone else should know about your, er, predicament. We'll see. That kid's weird enough that maybe he'll actually believe all of this. Might even have a solution for us.” 

“You think so?” Li said, a hopeful lilt in his voice. 

“Harry's brain is wired a little differently than most of the world's population. Who knows? Why? Are you uncomfortable with someone else knowing?” Louis asked, and this time he looked back at Li. 

Li chewed his bottom lip in contemplation. “I'm not sure I trust anyone else but you right now. I reckon I ought to meet them first, get to know them, before we tell them I magically transform into a dog during the day.” 

“Fair point,” Louis said, turning around and trying to hide the blush that formed on his cheeks at the thought of him being the only one Li could trust. Like he was instantly someone very important to Li, and okay, it was partly some sort of Stockholm Syndrome, him being the only other living thing in the vicinity, but he would take what he could get. “Aha, here!” he said in triumph, pulling out his favorite black Adidas jumper. He purposely bought it several sizes too big, so he knew it ought to fit Li perfectly. “Wear this with the joggers and I'll ring Harry, see if I could con him into bringing you some clothes.” 

“Nice,” Li said appreciatively, handing back the huge pile of striped shirts Louis had dumped on him earlier. 

Louis just rolled his eyes and returned his clothes inside his closet. “Can't help it if everybody else doesn't look as good as I do in stripes.” 

>>>>

Harry, as it turned out, had just left for Holmes Chapel earlier that day, but thanks to Louis' emphatic retelling of the lost-luggage-at-the-airport fiasco his cousin from France had suffered through, Harry had promised to have a few of his clothes sent to Louis' flat the next day, and also gave him the number of a personal shopper he'd employed on occasion. 

“Why can't we just buy these stuff in stores like normal people?” Li asked when Louis handed him his phone so he could list down all the items he needed. 

“Because you're not exactly normal now, are you?” Louis remarked a little too sharply, that he felt a slight tinge of guilt when Li pouted and lowered his head as he sat down on the couch to type on Louis' phone. “And I can't exactly go out and do some shopping either just 'cause I like to,” Louis added a little kinder. 

“Oh right. I forgot. You're 'proper famous' and all that,” Li said with a small chuckle. 

“Laugh all you want. Still not gonna make it any less real that I'm famous,” Louis said smugly. 

“I believe you,” Li said with a grin. “But come on, you have to admit you sounded like a total prat just now.” 

Louis' jaw fell. Did Li just call him a prat? “You just called me prat,” Louis said in disbelief. 

“I said you 'sound' like one,” Li corrected. 

“Well, that makes a world of a difference, you little—” Louis said, before reaching out in retaliation and twisting Li's nipple. 

Li gasped and twisted away in pain, dropping Louis' phone on the floor when his hands instinctively came to protect his chest from Louis' onslaught. “What was that for?!” Li's yelped. 

“That's for calling me a prat,” Louis said in satisfaction. 

“I hate to see what you'd do if I said something worse,” Li giggled as he reached for Louis' phone on the floor to continue his list. “This seems like it's too much,” he mumbled to himself when he reread his shopping list. 

“Just list down everything. Maybe another dog collar since you hated the other one...” Louis joked. 

“I don't hate it. It was just on a little too tight,” Li said distractedly, adding another item to his list. “Done!” he said, handing Louis his phone. “The fleece padding _was_ nice though,” he said as an afterthought. 

Louis looked over Li's list and frowned. “You sure this is all?” he asked. It was a lot shorter than he thought. If he were making a list, he'd include a jacket or a coat and at least five pairs of shoes. But Li seemed to want to go with just the essentials. A week's worth of pants ( _I like boxers :-)_.), plain shirts ( _or any shirt rly, get them in L so theyll fit_ ), and a pair of trainers ( _the cheap but cmfortble kind, size 8- 8.5 plss!_ ). 

“I don't wanna impose too much,” Li said bashfully. “I thought I could just borrow your joggers and socks while I'm here. The rest, I swear I'll pay you back... once I, you know, get back to normal,” Li promised, a determined look in his eyes. 

“No need,” Louis said with a shrug as he typed a few additional things and sent the list to Harry's personal shopper. “Harry's paying for all of this,” he said with a devious grin. 

“He's your best mate then, Harry,” Li concluded. 

“One of,” Louis replied. “There's Niall and Zayn too. Proper riot when all four of us are together.” 

“Must be nice,” Li said with a wistful smile. “I wonder if my mates are looking for me. If I had any mates, that is. I honestly can't remember.” 

“You wanna see what they're like?” Louis blurted out. He couldn't handle it when Li got all sad in front of him. 

Li blinked up at him. “Uh, sure?” 

>>>>

And that was how Louis and Li found themselves going through Youtube videos of One Direction at 3 in the morning surrounded by empty cartons of Chinese take out. 

“Alright. I said I believed you before, but I didn't really mean it. Now I believe you,” Li said, halfway through watching the band's performance at an awards show the year before. “You _are_ proper famous.” 

Louis laughed, kicking at Li's leg. “I said, didn't I?” They were sat next to each other on the couch, Louis' laptop perched near the edge of the coffee table in front of them. Louis was curled on one side with his feet up on the couch, while Li slouched on the other end, long legs stretched out in front of him. 

They continued watching a few more clips: some backstage footage at their previous tour, and some surprisingly high quality fan videos of their concerts. 

“Zayn. Zayn looks very familiar,” Li said when Zayn hit one of his ridiculous high notes and the crowd went wild. 

“Of course. It's always the pretty one,” Louis said with a roll of his eyes. 

“No, I swear I feel like I've seen him before.” Li said, trying to get a closer look at Zayn by leaning forward and bringing his face closer to the laptop screen. 

“You might've. We haven't exactly been out of the public eye for the last five years. Maybe you remember something you watched on the telly or a story on the gossip rags about us.” 

“Yeah, but _you_ don't look familiar to me,” Li said, and when Louis looked at him as if he were deeply offended, he added, “Ah! But Niall and Harry don't look familiar to me either, so...” 

“Yeah yeah,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. “Like I said, hard to forget the pretty one.” 

“He's not the only one who's pretty though,” Li mumbled under his breath as he went back to watching the video. 

Before Louis could fully process what Li must've meant (did he or didn't he just indirectly tell Louis he was pretty? He did, right? Louis wasn't reaching. He wasn't), Li gasped in disbelief and started giggling, cutting off Louis' train of thought. 

“What are you--?” Louis asked, before he realized what video they were watching. 

“Wait. Are you crying? You're crying!” Li said with a laugh, pointing at Louis' blotchy red face on the screen as Louis got choked up singing his verse. 

“I was not,” Louis denied. “You can see, right there, my sweat trickled into my eye. It burned, is all.” 

“Right, right,” Li humored him. “But this is a really good song. And you wrote it, you said?” 

“My first song that got into the album. Pretty sick, huh?” Louis said, chest puffing with pride. 

“Yeah. It's something else,” Li said, grinning as he watched Zayn lovingly singing the next verse to Louis in a teasing manner. “I've always dreamed of singing the songs I wrote in front of thousands of people, and seeing how much they love it. I wonder how that feels like,” he said thoughtfully before bursting into laughter when on screen, Harry had just tripped and fell on the stage. “That! That I don't wanna know what that feels like. Ouch,” he said, still laughing and failing to notice Louis staring at him like he'd just grown another head. 

“You sing then? Or write songs?” Louis asked after a long pause. 

“Huh?” was Li's bewildered response. 

“Did you not realize what you just said? You said you've always dreamed of singing the songs you wrote to thousands of people.” 

Li considered it for a moment. Then his eyes went big. “I did say that just now, didn't I?” 

“Yes! That's what I've been telling you!” Louis said, punching Li in the arm for being so slow on the uptake. “So you're starting to remember stuff now, aren't you?” 

“I don't know. I guess? So, wait...” Li said, fidgeting in his seat from excitement. “You think it means anything? It could be nothing, right?” 

“It's _something_. I mean, you won't remember it if it wasn't at least a tiny bit important,” Louis said. 

“What do you think it means, then?” Li asked. “I could be a song writer, yeah? Or I can sing?” 

“That's possible, yeah,” Louis told him. 

“But you don't know who I am,” Li said, a hint of disappointment coloring his voice, but not enough to dampen the excitement buzzing through his body. “So that means I don't work in the music industry?” 

“Well there are a lot of people in the business. I can't know every single one of them. I mean, I could ask around...” 

“And say what?” 

“I don't know. Ask them if they know a guy named 'Li'. It's better than nothing.” 

“Might be too much of a reach, don't you think?” Li asked, biting his thumbnail in uncertainty. “I could just be, I dunno, ah! I could be a regular uni bloke who dreams of making it big by writing songs on the sides of my notebook instead of studying,” Li conjectured jokingly. 

“It's why you're flunking half your classes,” Louis mock chided. “What would your mum think?” 

“Made her cry one too many times because of that, I'm sure,” Li said. 

“Or... you could be someone who tried out for X-Factor, but you got cut during bootcamp,” Louis supplied. 

Li seemed to consider that for a moment. “I reckon with my talent, I could've at least gotten through to the Judges' Houses,” Li said with a cheeky grin. 

“Ooh, really now? All right, all right,” Louis said, a smile tugging at his lips. “Let's face it: it's more likely you're the Karaoke champion of some dingy bar in London, three months running,” Louis suggested with a chuckle. 

“That too!” Li said, eyes crinkling as he laughed. “I could be anyone, honestly,” he added as the laughter faded, and just that one sentence brought Louis crashing down to reality. 

“You're right,” Louis conceded, mood suddenly more somber. “We don't have much to go on yet.” 

“I'll try to remember faster then,” Li said, bringing his attention back to the video, but this time with a determined glint in his eyes that Louis couldn't help but feel must be his most oddly attractive feature yet. 

>>>>


	4. Chapter 4

Louis' theory was proven true when Li returned to being a dog along with the first rays of the rising sun. It didn't make him feel any better knowing he was right, though. 

“I feel nervous,” Li said, fidgeting in his seat and glancing outside the window as they waited for the sun to rise. Louis' laptop sat forgotten on the table after hours of watching random Youtube clips of the band. Once they realized the sun was about to rise any minute, neither one of them had any more inclination to watch funny videos of Louis and his mates online. 

“What's there to be nervous about?” Louis asked. “You don't turn into a dog, then great. Problem solved. You turn into a dog, then it'd be exactly the same as yesterday and the day before.” 

“Yeah, but... now that I know what's coming. I kinda don't want it to happen? Like, what if I don't return to being human this time around?” Li asked, voice soft and unsure. 

“Shush. There's no room for negativity around here, alright? We'll worry about it when we get there,” Louis chided. He didn't want to mention the fact that he, too, was getting antsy. 

“You're right, you're right,” Li agreed, running a shaking hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and exhaled, and instantly he looked a bit calmer than before. “I genuinely appreciate it,” Li said, smiling up at Louis even through the uncertainty in his eyes. 

“Appreciate what?” Louis asked, feeling a lump in his throat. God, he wanted to close the distance between them on this couch and hug Li so tight. Tell him how things would be alright, how he wouldn't leave him and he'd be there the moment he turned back into a human. Funny how fast he was getting attached to people these days. Maybe there was some truth to what Zayn had been saying to him all this time. Maybe Louis had just been too lonely for too long. 

“Everything. For letting me stay, for the clothes, for trying to figure this out with me. For I dunno, the pizza and the Chinese food. Just everything. You, despite being a famous prat, you're pretty awesome,” Li said with a genuine smile on his face that made Louis feel warm all over. 

“You just had to put an insult in, didn't you?” Louis said, trying to hold back his smile. 

Li giggled. “You did hit me with your car, so I think I'm allowed a few more insults along the way.” 

“Fair enough,” Louis said, finally letting his smile overtake his face. “You're not bad yourself,” he added. 

Li's smile widened, but in an instant, his face crumpled and he groaned. “Oh, ouch,” he said, clutching his middle. 

They both glanced outside the window at the same time, and Louis felt the dread settle in his stomach. The sun was starting to rise. 

He reached forward instinctively and held Li by the shoulders the moment he curled in on himself in pain. “You— are you—? Fuck this is terrible,” Louis said. He may have started to panic. 

“There's... there's no room for... for negativity around here,” Li said, gritting his teeth through the pain and still trying to smile at Louis. 

“Shut up. Oh god, shut up you talk to much, you know that?” Louis said, rubbing soothing circles behind Li's back. 

“Won't be... talking... soon...” Li said, and he grimaced in pain once more. 

Then it happened. Louis watched helplessly as Li's body transformed, his skin replaced by thick, curling hair, his face contorting into the dog's long snout. And after a handful of agonizing seconds, it was over and Louis found himself sitting alone on his couch, staring at the kind face of Dog Li and wondering if he wasn't really stuck in a weird dream he couldn't wake up from. 

>>>>

It was very easy to find sleep after all that excitement. Louis didn't even realize he was going on 22 hours of no sleep until he was nodding off not five minutes into Li changing back into a dog. 

Dog Li yawned widely beside him on the couch and Louis found himself doing the same. 

“Shit. Been up all night. Didn't even— I'm gonna— yeah,” Louis said lazily, getting off the couch to retreat to his own room. He paused as he reached his door and turned to glance back at the dog, who didn't even bother to get off the couch. “You're... you're gonna be fine there on your own, right?” Louis found himself asking. 

Dog Li looked up at Louis and nodded slowly, eyes already drooping with much needed sleep. 

Louis smiled. “I'll see you later then.” 

>>>>

That morning, Louis dreamed he was in that garden again, sitting on the grass and humming to himself as he looked up at the stars. The person beside him was telling him something, and he turned toward them and smiled. He still couldn't make out anything about the other person, but somehow it didn't matter. He was happy, sitting right next to them, humming songs he didn't recognize. 

Usually, this was the point Louis was woken up by something, and at the back of his mind, he was waiting for it, but this time, the dream went on. The person beside Louis started singing, adding words to the melody Louis was humming. It was an exhilarating feeling, hearing this unknown song come to life through the other person's voice and through his words. Then the person paused, laughed, royally messing up the song, and Louis felt so endeared he wanted to either punch them in the face or kiss them, or punch them in the face with his mouth. In the end, the choice was taken off his hands, with the other person leaning in for a kiss... 

Louis never got to find out if his dream person was a good kisser because everything faded to black after that. He woke soon after, a tugging in his gut and an itching in his fingers that he hadn't felt in a long while. 

He fixed himself a cuppa, wondering where this feeling came from all of a sudden. He tried recalling the melody he was humming in his dream, but it was nothing but a faded out memory in his mind, barely a whisper, an unintelligible murmur floating about. He wanted to chase that melody, but he knew it was long gone. Still the feeling it elicited in him remained. The feeling of wanting to capture words floating in the air. 

He realized, for the first time in a long while, that he wanted to write. 

No. He _had_ to write. 

Frowning, he placed the mug on the counter and headed out to the living room, past a sleeping Dog Li and straight to the guest bedroom where his still mostly packed luggage was lying forgotten on the floor. He dug through all the crap he accumulated during the tour and fished out his old writing notebook. 

Moving back to the kitchen to continue his tea, he opened his notebook and flipped through to the last few pages, where his unfinished lyrics were scattered through the lines. The frown on his face deepened as he pulled out the pen inserted in the notebook (a cheap pen from some hotel they stayed at during the tour) and started scribbling a few lyric ideas. It was still a struggle, but it was a start. He had all but given up writing just days ago, but something in him shifted and he felt like trying again. Maybe he'd get it right this time around. 

>>>>

Sometime between Louis' third cuppa and his hastily put-together turkey ham sandwich, Louis had moved his writing to his keyboard in the living room, testing a few notes as he put together some of the lines for his unfinished song. Dog Li padded toward him and gazed longingly at his sandwich, nudging his nose against Louis' thigh when he didn't immediately take notice of him. 

“Oh, sorry. Hungry, yeah? Here...” Louis said distractedly, handing off his half eaten sandwich to Li, who gobbled it up eagerly. The dog left him alone after that, just quietly listened to him as he tossed around lyrics and played the piano. 

Harry's personal shopper came by sometime in the afternoon, dropping off several shopping bags as well as a small luggage full of Harry's clothes. Louis barely registered her arrival, or him accepting the bags from her. He only realized she had come and gone when he tripped on Harry's Gucci luggage on his way to the loo more than an hour later. 

He stopped writing and testing out melodies after his fingers started to hurt. He hadn't written this much in months, so this was a definite improvement. The scattered lines of random lyrics started to make sense, started to take the shape of a song, but it still felt incomplete somehow. 

Frustrated and tired, he decided it was time to do a bit of relaxing. He walked to the kitchen, grabbed a can of Coke and a pack of crisps and went to migrate to the couch for a few rounds of solo Fifa time. His plans were hampered when he saw Dog Li sleeping on the couch like he owned the whole damn thing, and Louis promised he'd have a word with him once he's human again about keeping off the furniture, but right now, he didn't have the heart to disturb the dog, not when it looked like he was sleeping so peacefully. 

Instead, he gently pushed the dog to the end of the couch, careful not to wake him up, and curled himself on the empty side, worming his feet under the dog's belly to keep his toes warm as he played Fifa by himself. 

>>>>

Louis woke a couple of hours later to the sound of the piano playing and someone singing softly to it. As he listened to the music, he was convinced he was still dreaming, or at least still stuck in that space between sleep and waking up. But then he felt his drool start to drip down his chin, and he tried to wipe it off with his hand that was still holding the controller and ended up smacking his chin with it instead. 

He groaned in pain, twisting around on the couch and dropping the controller to the floor. The music stopped abruptly, and Louis peered from the edge of the couch's armrest to see Li sitting in front of the piano, looking back at him sheepishly with his hands frozen on top of the keys. 

“D-did I wake you?” he asked, instantly dropping his hands to his lap. 

Louis made a non-committal sound and sat up. “How long was I out?” 

“Mmm, about a couple of hours,” Li answered. 

“How long have you been—?” Louis asked, gesturing to Li as a whole. 

“Oh, uh, about an hour?” Li answered. “I'm wearing me new clothes,” he said proudly, puffing his chest to show off his brand new t-shirt. 

“Ah, I can see that,” Louis said, a bit disappointed he missed Li's transformation. It wasn't like there was anything he could've done while Li transformed back into his human self, but he felt like he at least should've been conscious when it happened. In case anything went wrong. In case Li needed him. 

“I think she bought too much. I mean, I didn't order these,” he said, smoothing his hands down his thighs to show Louis his new pair of joggers. “I don't know if I have money, but I promise I'll pay you back someday.” 

“We'll do the accounting when this is all over,” Louis agreed. He'd never ask him to pay, of course. Harry was paying for everything, he'd make sure of that. Especially when his personal shopper made sure to buy nearly everything from YSL-- from Li's shirt down to his red trainers. 

“Great,” Li said, grinning. 

“So,” Louis said, shifting around the couch to face Li and folding his arms in front of him. 

“So,” Li mimicked, clearly delaying the inevitable. 

“That song you were singing...” 

“Uh-huh...?” 

“Sounded an awful lot like the song I was working on.” 

“That's because it _is_ your song? I just changed it up a bit,” Li confessed. “Just a tiny bit. See, you've been toying with this melody all day, and I've been listening to it all day too, and I thought it might sound better if I tweaked it a little, added a few words, slowed the tempo-- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have messed with your work.” 

Louis couldn't help the smirk from forming on his face as Li scrambled to apologize for his clear invasion of Louis' privacy. On any other day, this would've probably pissed Louis off, but maybe he was in a good mood, or maybe it's the way Li looked at him like he just broke one of Louis' American Music Awards, or maybe it was simply because he liked how the song sounded while Li played it, probably more than his own version, to be honest. The song sounded more solid, more complete, with just the simple things Li added to it. 

“No, you shouldn't have,” Louis said. “But I'll let it slide this time...” he said, standing up and walking to the keyboard. “Scoot,” he ordered, and Li slid away and stood up from the bench completely. “No. Sit,” Louis said, pointing to the space beside him. 

Li reluctantly sat back down on the bench. 

“Good boy,” Louis said with a satisfied nod. “Now, show me,” he said. 

“Huh?” Li asked. 

“Go on. Show me what you did. And then maybe later, you can help me with the rest of the song,” Louis said. 

“Alright,” Li said, smiling widely with eyes crinkling in that adorable way that made Louis want to pounce at him and kiss him senseless. Instead, Louis just sat quietly next to him on the bench, their thighs pressed side by side, and watched as Li's face scrunched in concentration as he read the notes on Louis' music sheet. “I'm not very good at the piano so--” 

“Just play,” Louis urged. 

“Okay, erm. Here goes...” he said before he started playing the piano. He messed up a couple of notes, and Louis tried not to laugh at how Li was blushing in embarrassment. “I can't sing if you're going to laugh,” Li told him. 

“All right, I'm sorry. Go on,” Louis said, biting his lip to stop the giggles. 

Then Li started singing, and the laughter completely died from Louis' throat. Li's singing was something else, soothing to the ears and pitch perfect with just the right amount of emotion to give the song life. It almost felt like the song fit him so well, like it was written for him. Like Louis wrote it for him. That was impossible, right? Louis was just over thinking things again. Li was a good singer. Way too good that Louis might feel a little insecure about his own shortcomings when it came to singing. But instead, Louis felt nothing but awe, and a bit of pride, really, that Li's voice lent itself so perfectly to Louis' song. 

_Lights go down and the night is calling to me_  
_I hear voices singing songs in the street and I know_  
_that we won't be going home for so long, for so long and I know_  
_that I won't be on my own, yeah, I love this feeling and_  
_Right now, I wish you were here with me._  
_'Cause right now, everything is new to me._  
_You know I can't fight the feeling. And every night I feel it_  
_Right now I wish you were here with me. Ahh whooo..._

Li colored the lines with a few well placed ad libs and a killer falsetto that gave Louis goosebumps. All the tweaks he made, from the words he added to the change in tempo all went so well, Louis was struck with this inexplicable feeling that he'd just stumbled upon something great. Something he had been missing all this time. 

As soon as he stopped singing, Li looked at him expectantly. “So...?” 

Louis cleared his throat and acted like he was unaffected (while in reality, all he wanted to do was lock Li up in a room and keep him to himself so they could write songs together all day. Oh _wait_ ). “You're right. You're shit at the piano,” Louis quipped. 

Li chuckled. “'Yeah, you'd lose a bit of coordination in your fingers too if your hands turn into paws during the day.” 

“Your singing though...” Louis began. “It wasn't half bad,” he said with a shrug. 

“Yeah?” Li's grin widened, eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“Here,” Louis said, positioning his hands on the keys. “I'll play and you sing. Let's do the pre-chorus and the chorus. Try doing that falsetto again. Ready?'” 

“Alright, go on, maestro,” Li said with a smile so bright, Louis couldn't help but grin ear to ear as well. 

Louis started playing the piano and Li sang along, and suddenly everything fell perfectly into place. They spent the rest of the night by the piano, toying with the song and stringing together the missing verses. Louis didn't know if it was fate or coincidence or some twisted joke that was happening here, but all he knew was that he'd never had this much fun making music in years, and he never wanted this night to end. 

>>>>

_And I could do this forever,_

_And let's go crazy together._

_Lights go down and I hear you calling to me..._

>>>>

The next few days passed by like a blur. 

In the afternoons, Louis would do a little research into animal transformation. He ordered books that dealt with the supernatural, myths and legends about shape shifters and animal magic. They were mostly useless, but he read through them anyway. If there was a slight chance it could help with Li's problem, he was willing to look into it. 

The nights, though, were a totally different story. 

At night, Louis' home was filled with singing and music, as he and Li sat about in the living room, writing lyrics and crafting the melodies and harmonies that could go along with it. By the end of the week, they had completed a song and had several other ideas written down in Louis' notebook. 

It was the most Louis had written in months, like inspiration was just flowing like a river through his entire body. It felt like being reborn. Like this feeling he was craving for so long was back and he never wanted to lose it again. And it was no doubt all thanks to Li. 

Another thing that was all thanks to Li? Louis' near-constant state of sexual frustration. 

Because even after a week, they still hadn't gotten the logistics of Li's transformation down. Louis usually forgot to watch out for sunset (whether he genuinely forgot or _deliberately_ 'forgot', Louis would never tell), and it often resulted with Louis walking in on Li just as he'd transformed, or Louis reading one of his supernatural books and looking up to find Li there, naked as the day he was born. And still so very, very fit. 

Louis' usual alone time with his hand went from 'every now and then' to 'fucking-hell-I-need-to-lock-myself-up-in-the-bathroom-NOW!'. He couldn't even get a proper wank in too, couldn't even watch his favorite porn or get real down and dirty with his fingers, not when he knew Li was just in the other room. For all he knew, he still had dog senses and could hear or smell things normal humans couldn't. 

It was a constant struggle. Louis never realized living with blue balls each day could be such torture. 

And yet, somehow, he still ended up 'forgetting' sunset most days. 

>>>>

Waking up with a crick in his neck and a dog lying half on top of him on the couch wasn't the most ideal way to start the day, but he wasn't necessarily complaining. For the first time in a long while, Louis had a finished song in his hands, and things were finally looking up. He shifted trying to get the dog off him, but there was a flash of light and Louis froze. 

Louis turned with wide open eyes and came face to face with a cellphone camera trained straight at him, and a familiar deep voice saying, “Don't move.” 

“What the fuck, Harry?!” Louis growled, rolling off the couch and onto the floor. He pushed Harry away, who was still looming over them trying to get a picture of the dog's sleeping face this time. 

Harry grinned as he stood up, pushing his long curls back from where they fell over his face. “You two looked so adorable, I just had to,” he said, turning his phone around to show Louis one of the pictures he took. Louis' mouth was open slightly while the dog's head was resting on his chest, snout buried under Louis' chin. 

Louis tried not to blush (That was Dog Li for crying out loud! Though he was technically Li, who Louis may or may not have a massive crush on, Li was still a dog right now and it just wouldn't do to blush because of a dog. It felt wrong and weird and everything was just giving Louis a big headache). “If you post that on Instagram, I swear I will steal all your scarves and shred them to make stuffing for my Harry voodoo doll,” Louis threatened emphatically. 

“You have a voodoo doll of me?” Harry said, perking up. 

Louis just rolled his eyes and stood up, stepping over the pile of clothes Li was wearing the night before. “What're you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in Holmes Chapel?” 

“I was, but now I'm here,” was Harry's answer. “I rang your doorbell but you didn't answer so I just used my emergency key,” he said, dangling a key chain with a tiny plastic banana on it that Zayn bought for him as a joke while they were in Japan (Louis got a crude David Beckham figure on his key chain while Niall's was Hello Kitty dressed as a chicken). “Wanted to see if your cousin got the clothes I sent. He's not around?” 

“Uhh... no. He went out,” Louis lied, glancing at the dog on his couch that was still curled up sleeping, pink tongue peeking out from under his nose. 

“Oh, that's a shame. I was wondering when I'd get to meet this mystery cousin of yours whom we've never met or even heard of before,” Harry said, an innocent smile on his face that belied the obvious suspicion in his words. 

“Maybe one of these days,” Louis answered, not meeting Harry's eyes. “Want some tea?” he offered, making his way to the kitchen. 

“No, I'm good,” Harry answered. “I'll be flying off to LA for a few days, but when I come back, maybe we could grab a few drinks and you could introduce me to your cousin from France,” Harry called out from the living room. 

“I'll, erm, have to ask him about it,” Louis said as he put the kettle on. 

“Your dog is wearing leopard print boxers,” Harry stated the moment Louis walked back into the living room. 

Louis froze when he saw Harry on the couch cradling Dog Li on his lap like an overgrown baby, and yes, he was still wearing the leopard print boxers. 

“He wanted some pants. What are you doing to my dog?” Louis asked a little bit irritably. 

“Oh, just cuddling,” Harry said, burying his face in Li's soft fur. “He's so soft and fluffy,” he said, hugging the dog tighter. 

Dog Li's face turned to look at Louis, and it almost seemed like those big brown eyes were begging for Louis to rescue him. 

“He doesn't like it. Let him go,” Louis told Harry. 

“No, no, he likes it. See,” Harry said before he proceeded to scratch the dog's belly. Instantly, Dog Li turned to putty on Harry's lap, a blissed-out expression on his face as one of his hind legs jiggled in reflex. 

“Traitor,” Louis muttered. 

Harry laughed, eagerly scratching the dog's belly one last time before he stopped and hugged the dog closer, hooking his chin on top of the dog's head. “He healed pretty fast, huh?” Harry said, taking Dog Li's right paw and waving it about in the air. 

“I guess it wasn't as serious as we once thought,” Louis said, taking a sip from his tea. 

“Your dog's pretty special then,” Harry said, using the dog's right paw to scratch its own belly. “He feels special. Don't you, little guy? You're one special boy,” Harry said, talking to the dog in a baby voice. 

“Yeah, he's pretty special alright,” Louis answered, a fond smile on his face. 

>>>>

“I like Harry.” 

Louis nearly dropped the controller as he glanced at Li incredulously. “You what?” 

After Li transformed and changed into Harry's clothes (he picked a bright yellow button down shirt with giant blue and red flowers on it), they worked on some lyrics together for Louis' other unfinished songs. At some point, Li got distracted and challenged Louis to a game or two of Fifa to help them relax. Now it was game number seven, and the score was tied three games a piece, and it was only getting more and more competitive as the night went on. 

Li shrugged, not looking away from the screen once or stopping his fingers from moving over the controls. “I said I like Harry. He's nice.” 

Louis returned his attention to the screen, but not before Li had scored against him. 

“Yes!” Li hissed in triumph. 

“You only like him 'cause he gave you belly rubs. Don't deny it,” Louis said, not caring that he sounded like a jealous lover just then. 

“The belly rubs _were_ nice,” Li conceded with a lopsided grin. “But he did let me borrow his clothes, and he said he wanted to take me out for a walk sometime. I think I'd like a walk. It'd be nice to see the outside of this flat for once,” he said. 

Louis' concentration was on the game, and he didn't register what Li said until Li scored another goal against him, and Louis was suddenly down by two at halftime. “So, you wanna go out for a walk?” Louis asked, not exactly offering, but genuinely curious. Louis didn't want to go out, not when he was having so much fun inside his flat with Li. It hadn't occurred to him that Li might want something different. 

“Well...” Li began, dropping his head down shyly. “I know you can't go out, because of the fans and all but... I think maybe even just to grab a quick bite somewhere would be nice. See the city a bit. Smell the not-so-fresh air.” 

Louis paused to think for a moment. A quick drive to some restaurant wouldn't hurt. It's was pretty late in the night already anyway, and he had been missing a bit of greasy fast food recently. “There's a KFC just a short drive from here. You want some chicken?” Louis found himself saying. 

Li looked at Louis like he had just offered him a million bucks. “What— you sure?” Li asked in disbelief. “Oh, but I thought you couldn't go out? What about the fans? Or the paps? And security, too,” Li said, worry dampening his excitement. 

“Relax. I've been at this for five years. I do know how to go incognito every now and then,” Louis said, acting like it wasn't such a big deal. “So, chicken?” 

“Sure. Chicken sounds nice,” Li said, smiling so big and so bright, Louis wondered why he hadn't thought of this earlier. If he could make Li smile like that just because of the prospect of some KFC, he wondered what his reaction would be if he decided to take Harry up on his offer and bring Li with them for some drinks. Somehow the idea didn't seem too bad now. 

>>>>

Louis buried his head under his favorite beanie and decided that was enough of a disguise he needed. He didn't realize that Li was the one who wasn't exactly inconspicuous until they were at KFC lined up at the counter and the brightness of Li's yellow shirt made Louis' eyes hurt. 

“I should've made you change out of that hideous shirt,” Louis grumbled as they walked up to the counter. 

“What this? It's a nice shirt. I like it,” Li said distractedly, glancing at the menu with wide, excited eyes. “I dunno which one I want,” he said. “I kinda want them all!” he said with a giggle. 

“Just get everything,” Louis said, trying to ignore the small group of girls seated on a nearby table who were excitedly whispering to themselves. 

“I'll pay you back,” he promised. 

Louis just rolled his eyes. “It's fast food, Li. My treat.” 

“Alright. I won't hold back then,” Li said, bouncing in place like the eager puppy that he was and proceeded to rattle off to the cashier every single item in the menu he wanted. 

Once their trays were filled with fast food enough to feed at least five people, they settled into a table at the farthest corner of the restaurant away from most of the other diners. Louis ducked his head and faced away when he noticed a couple of people pull out their phones. “Let's just eat, yeah?” Louis told him a bit impatiently. Li didn't seem to mind the attention they were drawing, or notice for that matter the chatter that started to fill the room. “Bon appettit!” Li said with a wide grin before stuffing his mouth full of chicken fries. 

“Slow down, if you choke, I don't know whether I'll be driving you to the vet or to the hospital,” Louis joked, unable to stop himself from laughing at Li's overeager eating. 

Li swallowed his food and was about to say something, but he stopped when somebody walk past them on their way to the counter. It was a mother and her little boy, the toddler round and rosy cheeked and hopping on his short, chubby legs the moment they got up front. Li followed them with his eyes, and watched as they ordered their food. 

Louis looked at the pair then back at Li. “Something the matter?' he asked. 

Li turned back around to face Louis, a mix of emotions on his face. “Her perfume... reminded me of my mum,” he said slowly, like the information was starting to get overwhelming. 

Louis' jaw dropped. “You—you're starting to remember your mum?” Louis asked, trying not to be too overeager. 

Li nodded. “My mum has... she has blonde hair, and a pair of glasses for every day of the week,” he began saying, glee slowly replacing the uncertainty on his face. “Her favorite flowers are peonies or tulips, depending on her mood. And she bought me bunny curtains when I was eight and she still likes to hang them up in my bedroom to this day,” Li shared eagerly, squirming in his seat like he wanted to just shoot up and start jumping around the room.“I remember my mum, Louis! I remember her!” 

Louis beamed, feeling almost as giddy and excited as Li was. “That's great!” 

“I know!” Li said laughing. “I remember her. I mean, bits and pieces of her. I can't even remember her name, which makes sense since I can't even be a hundred percent sure I remembered my own name correctly. But! I remember her face and her voice and how badly she cried when I moved to London.” 

“This is good. You're starting to remember the important stuff. Soon you'll have all your memories back, and we might just find a way to get you back to normal,” Louis said, stealing a chicken fry from Li's tray and chewing on it. 

Li grinned. “I can't wait.” 

>>>>

Louis only got stopped for pictures a total of three times, which was a success in his book. Each time, Li smiled like it was the most amazing thing in the world, and offered to take some of the pictures for them. 

“They were nice,” Li commented as they got in the car, a group of girls waving them goodbye. 

“Yeah. They're the nice bunch. It's the creepy, stalker-y ones you have to watch out for,” Louis said as they drove off. 

“Yikes, I can imagine,” Li said with a grimace. “What's like the creepiest thing you've encountered so far?” 

“You mean besides my dog turning into a human at night?” Louis asked. 

“Yes, besides that, because I doubt it if anything could get weirder than that.” 

Louis thought for a moment. “Mmm, not really creepy, but a couple of times already someone tweeted me mum and me sisters that I'd died in some gruesome accident. You can guess how much that upset them the first time around.” 

“Wow, that's... wow,” Li said, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Yeah.” 

“And the second time?” 

Louis scoffed. “Got a call in the middle of the night from me mum asking me why I never told them I went to France and had an unfortunate skiing accident there. Had to promise I'd take them the next time I go to that ski resort that I've never even heard of before.” 

Li laughed. “Your mum's a brave woman.” 

“That's one way to put it,” Louis smiled fondly. 

“Mine would probably just cry uncontrollably no matter how many times it happens,” Li said with a chuckle. 

“Ah, she's your mum. She just worries, is all,” Louis reassured him. 

“I wonder if she's worrying now,” Li asked, looking out the window and watching the city lights fly by with a small, bittersweet smile. 

“Of course she is,” Louis said softly. “They all are. Your family, friends... they're all worrying about you and wishing you're well.” 

“That's not very reassuring, to be honest,” Li said, biting his thumbnail as he looked out the window. “I'd rather they were happy and didn't have to worry at all. Wherever they are.” 

Louis paused, swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to say something, but coming up short. There were about a hundred and one things he could've told Li, but in the end, nothing felt right. If he were in Li's place, he wouldn't want his family to worry about him too. “All the more reason to work harder at finding a way to bring you back,” Louis finally said after a few silent moments. 

Li chuckled at that, and Louis sent him a confused look. “What's so funny?” Louis asked. 

“Nothing,” Li said, shaking his head. “Just thought this whole thing would've been a lot harder if I didn't have you around to help me out.” 

Louis turned to face the road in front of him and tried to hide the smile on his face. “I'm kinda stuck with you, aren't I? Besides, where else am I going to get anyone who's so easy to beat at Fifa?” 

Li laughed, looking amused and affronted at the same time. “It's three games each, and I would've won our last game if you didn't stop it in the middle.” 

“You said you wanted chicken!” Louis said, laughing as well. He thought Li wouldn't notice. 

“Well, yeah, but the chicken could've waited until _after_ I won my fourth game. You, Louis Tomlinson, are a cheat,” Li accused, playfully punching Louis in the arm. 

“I am not,” Louis said indignantly. “I don't need to cheat to win at Fifa. I will destroy you in our next game, you'll see.” 

“You're on,” Li said, fidgeting in his seat like he was restless and excited. 

This was the Li that Louis liked. The one that absolutely buzzed with life and smiled with all his heart. What he wouldn't give to see Li like this all the time, away from the worries and the horrors that plagued him. 

Louis didn't want to dwell on it too much, but he was pretty sure it was all over for him. He'd already fallen for Li—and fallen _hard_. 

>>>>


	5. Chapter 5

“What if I'm already dead?” Li said all of a sudden. 

“No you're not,” Louis said with a scoff. 

They're huddled together on the couch, Louis' laptop between them as they Googled random things from “is animal transfiguration real?” to “weredog myths” to “recent missing persons named Li.” Every search they made was a bust, but that came as no surprise to either of them. 

“No, maybe I am. Maybe I'm dead,” Li said again. “We should be looking through obituaries,” Li said, typing 'obituaries' in the search bar. “Maybe I'm so attached to this world or I've got some unfinished business or summat that I possessed this poor dog. I'm just a spirit now,” Li surmised, and he looked horrified at the idea. “Oh god, I'm an _evil_ spirit.” 

“That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard,” Louis said, snatching the laptop completely from Li and hitting backspace viciously with his finger. “You're _not_ an evil spirit.” 

“How would you know?” Li asked. “I could be using my evil spirit powers to convince you I'm not evil.” 

“This kid's got some imagination,” Louis mumbled to himself. “You're not dead, and you're not a spirit. Even if you were, you wouldn't be an evil spirit. You're... you're the cherub version of spirits, more like. Cute and totally harmless.” 

“You think?” Li asked, toying with the idea in his head. “I could be new at this whole evil spirit thing.” 

“Just chill, alright? At most, you're just a really unlucky bloke who got cursed by a witch for, I dunno, stepping on her herb garden,” Louis told him. 

“That could be one explanation,” Li agreed, before a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You think I'm cute?” he teased. 

Louis choked on his own tongue. “I di- I don't think... cherubs are— that's not what I meant. Don't twist my words,” Louis said with a petulant pout and hoping that Li didn't notice how his cheeks were suddenly flaming. 

Li chuckled. “Well, at least Harry thinks I'm cute. He said I had the most adorable brown eyes he's ever seen.” 

Louis rolled his eyes. “You were also four legged and had a tail then, so that doesn't count.” 

“You're just jealous because you're not the cutest thing in this flat anymore,” Li joked, trying to pinch Louis' cheek and Louis viciously swatted his hand away. 

Li laughed heartily as Louis squirmed away. “Aww, it's okay. If it helps, you're still the cutest until sunrise,” Li continued, laughing as Louis grumpily shoved the laptop at him. 

Louis tried desperately not to blush, but he was only human. “Oh shut up and keep on Googling,” he said, face flaming as he stomped to the kitchen to get himself a drink. 

The nerve! What was Li doing, calling him 'cute'? He'd never been called 'cute', not since he was eight, at least. And not by someone he'd like to mount like a horse. Did Li know just how even the innocent banter, the tiniest teases, could make Louis a blubbering mess next to him? All he had to do was glance Louis' way and Louis would fall to his knees in front of him, if he wanted him to (because Louis sure as hell wanted to). 

“Fuckin' Tommo. Get a hold of yourself,” Louis mumbled to himself as he grabbed a Red Bull. He closed the fridge door and caught his reflection in the chrome door. His face was still flushed and he looked every bit the lovesick puppy that he was. He sneered at his reflection then pulled the fridge door open to return the Red Bull in favor of a couple of beers. Maybe if he got drunk, he'd forget he was gone for someone who obviously didn't feel the same, and worse, who was only spending time with him because he had no other choice. 

>>>>

Louis stepped out of the kitchen after spending a good fifteen minutes drinking and berating himself about the 101 reasons why falling in love with Li was a bad idea. He got stuck because he couldn't decide if “Li's atrocious spelling” was a deal breaker or instead could be used as a very clever excuse to teach Li spelling by making him write words on Louis' skin with his fingers. Or his tongue. 

By the time Louis realized his imagination had run wild again, and his pants felt a little too tight, he'd been in the kitchen for far too long, and had downed nearly all of his first beer. He slapped his face a few times to get himself thinking straight (ha!) before he deemed himself composed enough not to spontaneously combust at the sight of Li. 

“Found anything useful?” Louis asked as he settled back onto the couch. 

“Nope,” Li said, popping the 'P'. “But Amazon has a sale on Batman costumes for dogs and they have it in all sizes,” Li announced enthusiastically. 

“Right. I think we've had enough Internet for today,” Louis said, plucking the laptop from Li's fingers and folding it closed on his lap. 

“Aww, but it's got a nice lil' cape and all,” Li added before bursting into laughter at Louis' incredulous look. “Alright. No more Internet,” he conceded. “But how are we supposed to find any leads then?” 

Louis bit his lip, going through all the options they had, which wasn't very many. It's been more than two weeks and they still had next to nothing. He knew they needed to step it up a notch. 

They could consult a paranormal expert, but Louis was afraid they'd just try to get their slimy hands all over Li to study him. A priest was out of the question as well, since Li was half convinced he was an evil spirit, and Louis didn't want to risk an exorcism lest it do more damage to their current situation. Maybe turn Li a rabid dog or something. 

“Me mum used to say if you've lost something, you retrace your steps. But it's me memory I lost so how do you even—?” Li said, making an unintelligible gesture with his hands. 

“Retrace our steps huh?” Louis said thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on his laptop cover, right where he had the sticker of his favorite coffee shop's logo stuck to it. A thought crossed his mind then, because the last time he went to that coffee shop was on the same day he hit Dog Li with his car. “You fancy a little midnight drive?” he asked Li. 

“You've been drinking,” Li pointed out. 

Louis looked down at his near empty beer can and 'tsked'. “It's only one beer. And what are you, me mum?” 

“Lou,” Li chastised. “Last time you drank just 'one beer', you hit me with your car,” Li reminded him. 

“So sensible, jeez,” Louis said before downing the last of his beer. He tossed the empty can behind the couch, and the moment he saw Li opening his mouth to say something, no doubt to tell him off for being slob, Louis immediately said: “Yes mum, I'll pick that up,” he said mockingly. 

“I don't think I like your tone, young man,” Li replied with a grin, folding his arms over his chest in an effort to look stern, but that only made his biceps bulge under his shirt and really, why was life so unfair to Louis? 

“Fine, no driving. Do you fancy a little midnight walk then?” Louis said instead. 

Li perked up, and if Louis squinted, he could probably see his tail wagging. “A walk? I could go for a walk,” Li said with a wide grin. 

“Lemme just get your leash and then we can go,” Louis remarked with a smirk. 

“Very funny, Lou,” Li said, eyes shining with mirth. 

Louis' smirk faltered when his stomach did a little flip at the way Li said his name. “Yeah, very funny,” Louis agreed. 

>>>>

“This is it,” Louis announced with a flourish of his hands as they walked up to the deserted intersection. 

“What's 'it' supposed to be exactly?” Li asked, looking around the street. 

It was nearing four in the morning and the only ones around were a drunk office man singing Spice Girls songs by the bus stop, and a bored convenience store clerk stocking the newsstand outside with the day's delivery of gossip magazines. 

“You wouldn't tell me where we're going because you, uh, just needed a pack of cigs and you didn't wanna go out alone?” Li asked, tilting his head towards the convenience store. 

“No,” Louis scoffed. “Don't you recognize this place?” he asked, moving to stand on the side of the road and pointing to the pavement. 

“Not really,” Li said, then his eyes grew wide just as soon as the words left his mouth. “Oh! Is this where— is this the exact spot where you hit me with your car?!” he gasped in realization. 

The clerk paused to look at them with a raised eyebrow before returning to fixing the magazines. 

“A little louder, Li, I don't think Posh Spice over there heard that,” Louis said with a flat expression, tilting his head to the drunk guy at the bus stop. 

“Sorry,” Li said, softer this time. “But I'm right, yeah? This is where the, uh, accident occurred,” Li surmised. 

Louis nodded, walking back up the sidewalk. “You would be correct. Right here. You just ran straight into the road from here. You don't recognize the place? Or remember anything about that day at all?” he asked. 

“Mmm,” Li hummed thoughtfully, looking up and down the street. It was dark and the shops were closed, the only light coming from the street lamp and the bright, fluorescent sign of the convenience store. “I don't,” he answered. “Oh, but maybe it's because it's night time and everything looks so different at night,” he was quick to add, as if he didn't want to somehow disappoint Louis with his lack of recollection. 

“Maybe,” Louis said. “Listen, okay? Maybe you'll remember something if I told you my side of the story.” 

“I'm listening,” Li nodded. 

“So, it was maybe 1, 1:30 in the afternoon. I was in the coffee shop a couple of streets down and I ran into— I ran into _someone,_ and I didn't know how to deal with that someone so I escaped, right? Fled to me car and drove off, possibly while having a panic attack. I took the turn right there, then next think I knew, there was a flash of movement from the corner of my eye, and bam!” he said, banging his fist into his other palm and making Li cringe. 

“Naturally I got out of my car to check, and I saw yo— the dog, I saw the dog on the ground. I didn't have time to, like, inspect what sort of injuries I'd done before moving the dog or whatnot because by then a few people were starting to recognize me, yeah? Had their phones out and everything. And there wasn't anyone around screaming bloody murder at me for hitting their dog so I assumed you were a stray. I started panicking again and just scooped you up, put you in the back seat and drove off to the nearest animal hospital, which was just a couple of minutes away, so you should count yourself a lucky dog, alright?” 

Li nodded, digesting the information. 

“So you remember anything now? Did any of that jog your memory?” Louis asked. 

Li's brows furrowed, face going all serious as he thought for a moment. “Nah, I'm still drawing a blank. Sorry, mate.” 

Louis let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and threw his hands up in defeat. “Ah, at least we tried. Short of recreating the accident for you, I've got nothing.” 

“We could try again in the morning, if you like,” Li suggested. 

Glancing at him like he's being ridiculous, Louis said, “Are you forgetting something important that happens to you come sun up?” 

“I know that. Could hardly forget it even if I wanted to,” Li said. “But you could, like, come back here with me as a, you know, a dog,” he said, whispering the last part to Louis in case the clerk could still overhear them even if he'd moved back inside the store. 

“And what? Walk around here a bit with dog you on a leash in the hopes of jogging your memory?” Louis asked. 

Li shrugged. “Might work, you know. I _was_ a dog when I was here the first time. Maybe I need to see it again from a dog's viewpoint,” Li explained. 

“You know,” Louis began slowly. “That's the best idea you've had all night.” 

Li beamed proudly, like Louis had just greatly praised his intelligence. “Thanks. I try,” he said with a giggle, not unlike a puppy who's happy he'd just pleased his master. 

Louis couldn't help but grin, chest warm. He knew he was staring at Li fondly, but he was allowed even a few moments of weakness. Ah, he could stare at that smiling face all day and night. 

>>>>

“Anything?” Louis asked as he drove by the intersection for the second time. 

Dog Li looked at him with a bored expression before glancing out the window again. 

“I know I said 'walk' but looks like we're gonna have to make do with this, boy,” he said, wincing when he spotted the same group of fans that mobbed them earlier. 

As soon as he'd woken up that day at two in the afternoon (his usual wake-up hour ever since he flipped his sleeping habits to spend all his nights awake with Li), he headed out with Dog Li to the 'scene of the crime', as Li called it. He'd parked his car a couple of streets down and had stepped out with Dog Li on a leash. With the hood of his jacket low on his head, he'd walked towards the exact spot where they were the night before. He'd just come up to the corner when he'd heard the tell-tale squeal of a fan. 

Several photos and autographs later, Louis had rushed back to his car and decided to abandon their little dog walking adventure. 

“This is no use,” Louis said, pulling over at the side of the road and pulling his phone out. “We need reinforcements.” 

>>>>

Not even half an hour later, Louis checked Twitter to see people freaking out about rumors of him shopping at a nearby mall. 

Louis 'tsked' as he scrolled down the mentions of him on Twitter. 

There were a couple of blurry pictures of Louis heading into a cosmetics shop with Alberto dutifully following behind. Louis was pretty sure these pictures were almost a month old, and taken in America too. This was back when he sneaked out to replace the eyeliner he stole from Lottie's bag when he wanted to draw dicks on a sleeping Niall's face. (In his defense, he was drunk and there were never any markers when he needed them the most). How the pictures never surfaced before now, Louis would never know. 

“Not the distraction I was going for but, eh, Susan could be useful sometimes,” he shrugged, going through a few more tweets. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw someone mention El, and everything went on a downward spiral after that. 

@Louis_Tomlinson buying makeup for a new girl? 

New girlfriend? OMG has @Louis_Tomlinson finally moved on from Eleanor? 

Aww i really wanted @Louis_Tomlinson and El to get back together. :( 

He felt his stomach roll and he closed his Twitter quickly, nearly dropping his phone in his haste. This was a bad idea. He hadn't thought about El at all recently, not since he had Li occupying most his nights, so seeing El's name pop up again threw him for a loop. Why were people still so invested in their failed relationship? El didn't need to be constantly dragged back into this mess every time Louis' name came up. 

Dog Li cocked his head to the side and gave him a questioning look. It was funny how fast Louis got proficient with deciphering Dog Li's many expressions. 

“It's nothing. Just some Internet trolls,” he lied, pocketing his phone. “You know how these people get,” he said with a lopsided grin that probably looked so forced, even Dog Li could see right through it. 

Louis cleared his throat. “Enough about that. Let's see if the coast is clear now, eh?” 

>>>>

Louis hid behind the magazine stand, pretending he was seriously perusing the gossip rags and their ever colorful headlines. “Oh look, I hadn't realized Harry and I had a huge row and he snubbed my house party last week,” Louis said, amused as he read The Sun's latest headline. “Why wasn't I invited to my own house party?” Louis asked Li, glancing down to the dog seated beside him. 

Dog Li looked up at Louis and shrugged before he brought his attention back to the busy street. 

“Anything?” Louis asked hopefully. They'd been standing outside the convenience store for fifteen minutes and there was only so much trash journalism Louis could take before he felt like barfing up his lunch. 

Dog Li just shook his head, a dejected slump to his furry shoulders and Louis could just tell he was doing that kicked puppy face right now. 

Louis sighed. “I think we should call it a day. It's nearing sundown and we can't have you transforming in the middle of the street now, could we? Scare all the children with all your bits hanging about,” Louis said, flapping his hands in a crude gesture in front of him before he could stop himself. Louis inwardly cringed. Great, Louis, talk more about Li's bits why don't you? 

Li glared at him like he wanted to bite Louis' fingers off before barking sharply in protest. 

“Fine,” Louis clucked his tongue. “Five more minutes and then we're heading home, alright?” 

Another bark, happier this time, and a wildly wagging tail was all the answer Louis needed. 

“I reckon I need a smoke now,” Louis said with a sigh, glancing inside the store to the counter. It was only a few paces away. He could step inside for a bit. “Be a good boy and stay,” he ordered. 

Li looked back at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and without breaking eye contact, he stood up to slowly and deliberately move a step further out into the street. 

Louis gaped before he laughed in disbelief. “You cheeky little sh—” he said, making a grab for the dog to lovingly strangle him, but stopping when an old lady walking by looked at him in outrage. “Stay,” he repeated through gritted teeth. 

Li barked and flopped back down onto his rump obediently. 

“Good boy,” Louis nodded in satisfaction. He turned around and went inside the store, grabbing a bag of crisps on his way to the counter. Just as he got there, however, he heard Li barking loudly outside, and when he whipped around to look back at the entrance, all he saw was a blur of brown as Li ran away. “What the—? Fucking hell!” Louis muttered, dropping the bag of crisps on the counter and making a mad dash out the store. 

“Li!” he called out, and from the corner of his eye, he saw the dog running down the street, leash trailing behind him like a whip and making people swerve away from him. “Sorry 'bout that, sorry,” Louis apologized as he threaded through the people walking by. 

The dog ran around a corner and for a moment, Louis lost sight of him. Panic started to catch up to Louis. “If you get hit by a car again, I swear I'll fucking kill you meself,” Louis muttered worriedly to himself. He reached the street corner and frantically searched for any signs of his runaway dog. He breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted Li running up to a row of residential buildings. 

“Why'd you suddenly run off like that, huh? I told you to stay, didn't I?” Louis asked angrily as he finally caught up to Li, grabbing the leash from the ground and gripping it tight. “This is exactly why we're in this mess to begin with.” 

Li barked, looking at Louis then back up at the building in front of them. 

Trying to catch his breath, Louis looked up at the old apartment building. “You recognize this place?” 

Li barked excitedly. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis said, swallowing. “You think--” he said before pausing abruptly. He didn't want to get ahead of himself, but with the way Li was barking up a storm at this building, they might've finally stumbled on a solid lead. “You think this is where you live?” 

Li nodded, tongue lolling to the side and looking so excited and hopeful, Louis felt his hands get all jittery in anticipation. 

“Alright, alright,” Louis said, rubbing his hands in front of him. “Let's see if we can get some answers.” 

“Oh you're so gorgeous!” someone gushed from behind them, and Louis froze. 

Shit. The fans found him again. 

Louis slowly turned around with a smile forced on his face, ready to beg off from another round of photos and autographs. He never liked saying 'no' to fans, but he was busy right now. They were on the brink of discovering something potentially big and— 

An old lady clad entirely in pink went past Louis and straight for Li. “Look at you handsome, little puppy!” the old lady gushed, scratching behind his ear. “What's his name?” she asked Louis. 

“Oh, uh,” Louis paused, still a bit flabbergasted. “Li. His name is Li.” 

“Aww, Lily-baby,” she cooed, bringing her tiny, chubby hands to smush Li's face. “You two are looking for someone?” she asked, although she kept her attention to the dog as if expecting Li to be the one to reply to her. 

“Ah! Yes!” Louis answered. “Me mate. I'm here to visit me mate. But, uh, I'm not sure if he still lives here anymore.” 

“Oh? What number is his flat?” she asked. “I've lived here for almost twenty years, maybe I can point you in the right direction.” 

Louis glanced at Li, who immediately perked up and started wagging his tail excitedly. 

“Ohoho, what a happy, little fellow you are,” the old lady cooed again, bopping Li's nose playfully. 

“I don't know his exact address but... he's uh, he's got short, brown hair that's kinda curly. Brown eyes and, erm...” 

“Uh huh,” the old lady nodded, digesting the information. 

“...he's around the same age as me. Same height--” 

Li let out a sharp bark of protest. 

“Alright, he's a bit taller than me,” Louis said bitterly, sending the dog a positively murderous glare. “But just a bit,” he emphasized. 

The dog just rolled his eyes and Louis had the urge to strangle his furry, little neck. 

“And he's got a birthmark on his neck right here,” he said, pointing to his throat. 

“Hmm...” the old lady said thoughtfully. “I don't know about the birthmark. The neck's not the place you stare at when you have young, male neighbors, you know?” she said before letting out fits of giggles. 

Louis laughed awkwardly along with her. “Right,” he just agreed. “So, uh, do you know my mate?” 

“Well, if my memory serves me right, there was this young lad that lived on the third floor. Very handsome fellow. Worked out a lot so he had these massive arms and a nice little bum.” 

The dog choked on thin air, and Louis tried not to do the same. 

“Ohoho,” she giggled again, petting Li on the head lovingly. “Don't know his name, but he's probably the same age as you. He hosted lots of parties in his flat.” 

“Parties?” Louis asked, intrigued. Li the party animal, who knew? 

“Oh yes. I don't know what's hip with you young folks right now, but I never would've imagined dressing up as animals would be one of them.” 

This time, it was Louis' turn to choke. “Dress up? A-as animals?” 

“Yes. Head to toe, dogs, cats, bunnies. Just like fluffy animal mascots,” she shared. “The parties are usually until very late at night, and sometimes I could even hear lots of banging and loud animal noises coming from his flat. I live right below him, you see,” she explained. 

Louis felt his face grow red with the effort not to laugh. Beside him, Dog Li looked beyond mortified. 

“It was all very peculiar. But like I said, I could never understand the trends nowadays,” she said, shaking her head. “Are you one of his furry friends?” 

“Not really, no,” Louis said, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from bursting into giggles. 

“Oh. I see. Well,” she said, adjusting her pink handbag on her arm. “Maybe when you find where he lives, you could tell him there was a package for him that was mistakenly left on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago. I didn't open it but it was labeled as 'toys'.” 

Louis wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, but the old lady's words gave him pause. “Wait... so he doesn't live here anymore?” 

“Not for a few weeks, I believe. Sorry, love,” she revealed. 

“Well that's...” Louis began, instantly deflating. “Disappointing.” 

“Sorry I couldn't be more of help, dear. You _could_ try asking the other tenants,” she suggested, opening the door and beckoning them to enter. 

“Oh, that would be—” Louis said, moving to enter the building, but Li pulled on his leash and refused to move. Louis looked back at the dog and frowned in confusion. “What's the matter, boy?” he asked. 

Li stood his ground and barked, a worried look on his face. 

It was then that Louis noticed the orange and red hues that painted the sky. Sunset. “Oh bugger.” 

>>>>

“Okay, okay, almost there,” Louis said as he pulled into his parking space. He shut down the engine and rushed out of his car with Dog Li leading the way to the lift. 

It barely took them ten minutes to get home, but those ten minutes were agony. Louis' windows weren't heavily tinted and if Li had transformed inside his car and someone saw them, Louis wasn't sure how he was going to explain having a naked guy in his passenger seat. 

By some luck they managed to make it back to Louis' building before sundown. Now all they had to do was get up to Louis' flat. 

“Stupid lift, why won't you. Fucking. Go. Down. Faster?!” Louis cursed, stabbing the button with his finger repeatedly. 

His breath hitched when the doors opened and there was no one inside. “Yes!” he hissed in triumph. 

Li rushed inside and Louis quickly followed, pushing the button of his floor and repeated pressing the close doors button again. He breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the glass wall of the lift once the doors closed and they slowly made their ascent. 

But his relief was short-lived when he felt a sharp tug on Li's leash. When he looked down, the dog was curling into a ball. He took a quick glance at the numbers going up, and saw they still had ten floors to go. “Oh no no no no,” Louis chanted. 

>>>>

The lift doors chimed open and an elderly couple moved to enter, but froze on the spot when they saw Louis standing next to a naked man wearing only a collar and a leash, the leash still clutched tightly in Louis' hand. 

Louis and Li stood there in shock as well, and it took Li maybe two more seconds to realize he was stark naked before his hands flew down to cover the essentials. “Oh God, sorry,” he gasped, face going red with embarrassment. 

“Evening,” Louis greeted, nodding to the elderly couple. “Going up?” he asked, trying to act nonchalant. Like he wasn't standing next to a naked man in a lift. 

The old man still stood there gaping at them while the old lady managed to collect her wits and gave them a wide, and frankly, lecherous smile. “It's all right love, we'll take the next one,” she said. 

“Cheers!” Louis said, pasting on a huge grin before he pressed the close button. 

“Ah, youth. Remember when we used to experiment like that, Edward?” they heard the old lady sigh. 

A flabbergasted “Gertrude!” was the last thing Louis and Li heard before the doors closed. 

Louis and Li glanced at each other, and before Louis knew it, laughter was bubbling out of his throat. Li's eyes crinkled and soon he was bent over laughing as well. 

“It's not— not that funny!” Li protested even while he laughed like a lunatic alongside Louis. 

“Yes it is!” Louis said, reaching forward and twisting Li's nipple before making a hasty escape as soon as the lift doors opened at their floor. 

“Louis!” he heard Li call out in protest. 

Louis ignored him in favor of digging through his pocket for his keys and opening his door. 

“Louis!” he heard Li call out again, this time in worry. 

Louis turned to look at Li, who was peeking out the lift doors tentatively and looking up and down the hallway for any signs of people. “There's no one here, come on,” Louis called out to him, his laughter returning full force when Li finally emerged from the lift and ran down the hallway with his hands cupped between his legs. 

“You're enjoying this a little too much!” Li protested as he scurried inside the flat. Louis closed the door behind Li's naked, little bum in a rush, in case someone suddenly walked by, and when he turned around, they both shared a look before bursting into fits of giggles. 

“Next time we do this, we're bringing you a change of clothes,” Louis declared. 

“And setting an alarm for sunset,” Li added, hands working to hastily remove his collar and leash. “Oh god, I'm never gonna be able to look at your neighbors in the eye again,” he said in mortification, tossing the leash to the side. 

“Gertrude seemed to like it,” Louis snickered. 

Li laughed heartily at that, and at the back of Louis' mind, he couldn't help but notice that Li looked so beautiful like this: eyes crinkled, cheeks bunched up and face flushed, his broad shoulders shaking with laughter. Li was something else: full of joy and laughter, sunshine warmth and vibrant colors. And Louis couldn't look away. But then again, why should he? 

Louis laughter slowly faded, and all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart. He felt his fingers twitch at his sides with the urge to reach out and bring Li's face to his, to hold him close and touch his lips to his, to say with a kiss what he couldn't with words. 

He must have been staring for far too long because Li's laughter began to die down as he glanced at Louis and held his gaze. But even then, Louis couldn't stop himself from staring. He felt his throat suddenly going very dry and he unconsciously licked his lips. 

A shiver ran up Louis' spine when Li's gaze flicked down to his lips and back up at his eyes. The mood in the room suddenly became charged and Louis held his breath. He wasn't imagining it, right? That heat in Li's gaze was real, and it was directed at him. 

Louis thought that this was it, any moment and one of them would break, would make the first move and close the distance between them. He could finally, finally get his hands on Li, taste the flavor of his tongue and his skin and— 

“Whoa there! And I thought _I_ was under dressed.” 

Louis felt like he'd been doused with a bucket of ice water. “What. The. Fucking. Hell... _NIALL_?!” 

And just like that the spell was broken and Li was jumping out of his skin and self consciously covering himself as Louis gaped at the unexpected visitor. 

“Hey, where were you? I've been here for hours,” Niall asked Louis. He was by the living room threshold, clad only in a pair of tight, black boxers and munching on microwave popcorn. 

“Wh-where was I? You! What're you doing here?” Louis sputtered, a mixture of confusion and sexual frustration as he glared at Niall and wished he'd just Irish jig his way back to Mullingar. 

“Nothin'. Just wanted to chill. And oh, hi there,” Niall turned to Li with a grin. “Don't think we've met before. I'm Niall,” he introduced himself. 

“Li,” Li answered shyly. 

“I'd shake your hand but,” he said, wiggling his greasy fingers at them. “Plus, you're holdin' your privates there and well...” Niall said, shrugging and grinning again as he playfully tossed a popcorn in his mouth. 

Louis rubbed his face in frustration. Why was this his life? “Niall, this is Li. He's my c—” 

“Cousin, I know. Harry's told me 'bout you. Said he wanted a lad's night out when he comes back to London so Louis could introduce you to us properly,” Niall said, talking and eating popcorn like there was nothing strange about this whole situation. 

“Harry's told you, huh?” Louis said, making a face like he'd just sucked on a lemon. 

“C-can I, like, get dressed first?” Li chimed in. 

“Oh! Don't feel the need to dress up on my account,” Niall reassured him. “I don't mind. I mean, look at me!” Niall declared, gesturing to his noticeable lack of clothing. 

Li looked lost for a moment, brows drooping in confusion. 

“Li, get dressed,” Louis ordered. 

“Yes!” Li jolted and scurried past Niall into the living room. 

Niall watched Li disappear into the living room and turned to look back at Louis, an amused expression on his face. 

“What?” Louis asked in irritation. He couldn't help his sour mood. He didn't expect Niall to be the biggest cock block of the century. He was allowed to sulk. 

“Nothin',” Niall answered, digging into the bag of popcorn and stuffing his mouth full. “Li seems nice,” he remarked, grinning with popcorn stuck between his teeth. 

Louis felt his blood start to boil. Oh he could just murder himself an Irishman tonight. 

>>>>

Niall ended up staying the night, cleaning out Louis' fridge of beer and playing Fifa (and losing terribly) to both Louis and Li. Nothing seemed to dampen his spirits, and in the wee hours of the morning, he just ended up busting out his guitar and drunkenly playing all sorts of songs while Louis and Li were locked in a series of increasingly competitive games. 

“Gooooaaaaaallllll!!!” Li howled when his player scored a hat trick against Louis and he celebrated by taking his shirt off and whipping it up in the air like a total douchebag. Louis was beyond appalled. The nerve! How dare he beat Louis and celebrate it by showing off his rippling abs like that? It was unfair. Louis did not deserve this. 

Louis promptly retaliated by twisting Li's bare nipple, and feeling a great sense of satisfaction when Li winced in pain and jerked away, still laughing while he gingerly rubbed his abused nipple. “Somebody's a sore loser— ah! Ah! Stop it!” Li said, giggling when Louis began pinching him on his side when his nipples were out of reach. 

“Put your shirt back on, you twat, and let's get back to playing. I have a team to avenge,” Louis quipped, trying to ignore the way Li shimmied back into his shirt. 

“Get ready to be spectacularly whipped again, Tommo,” Li said. 

Before Louis could utter a retort, Niall started laughing like lunatic from where he's perched on the armchair. 

“You all right there, Nialler?” Louis asked, raising an eyebrow in question. 

“Whipped, hahaha!” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes and clutching his guitar to his chest like a lifeline. “Tommo's whipped. So whipped,” he said, kicking his feet about and nearly falling off the armchair. “Never seen you this whipped, not even when you were with El—” 

“O-kaay. You've officially gone mental,” Louis said, chuckling and pretending that he didn't understand what Niall implied with his slurred words. He turned to Li, who looked amused by Niall's antics, but otherwise didn't seem like he caught on to what Niall meant. Louis could get lucky sometimes, as it turned out. “Gimme five minutes and I'll just put this little Irish devil to bed,” Louis said, setting his controller down on the couch. 

“Putting me to bed?” Niall said incredulously. “I don't need to go to bed.” 

“Yes you do. You're clearly pissed,” Louis reasoned out. 

“Mate, I'm Irish. That's my secret. I'm always pissed,” Niall said in his best Hulk impression, before laughing again. 

“Eyy! That was good,” Li said with a chuckle. 

Louis rolled his eyes. “Oh no, now you've gone and encouraged him.” 

“Wanna hear my Jose Mourinho impression?” Niall asked excitedly. 

“Go for it,” Li said, grinning widely. 

And from there the night devolved into Niall making increasingly crude impersonations of famous people, even throwing in a 'Vas Happenin' in there at some point. If it weren't for the fact that Li was nearly on the floor laughing his little bum off, Louis would've been a bit more annoyed with Niall for being the biggest cock block of the century. And for making that 'whipped' comment earlier. But Louis supposed he could let it slide for now. 

Niall made a James Bond impression, and Louis found himself laughing as well. This one was new. Alright. Louis changed his mind. Niall could live to die another day. 

>>>>


	6. Chapter 6

“Aww, don't look like that,” Louis said as they drove back home. 

They'd just gotten out of the apartment building of the mystery party animal, and their only lead turned out to be a bust. Deciding that the best way to know for sure if Li was the guy who used to throw wild, animal-themed costume parties in his flat, was to bring Li there personally and have the old lady see if she recognized him. 

It turned out she didn't. She did tell Li he reminded her of her ten-year-old grandchild and gave them a Tupperware full of cookies, which Li opened with a pout once he got in the car and started munching on a piece like a sad, little puppy. 

“Look like what? I don't look like anything,” Li asked, cookie crumbs on his pouting bottom lip. 

“Your eyebrows have gone all droopy and depressed. You look like I just told you I threw away all my Batman DVDs,” Louis quipped. 

Li choked. “What?!” 

“Relax. It was just an example. Jeez,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. “Listen: would you seriously have preferred that you were that guy?” Louis asked. “I mean, he liked to dress up as a cow! I have nothing against cows, mind you, but wearing a costume with an udder flapping about on your belly is—” Louis said, cringing. “Now me, personally, I would've gone for something simpler. Like a cat.” 

“Or a dog?” Li asked with a small smile. 

“Nah, I'll go for a cat, thanks. Dogs stink,” Louis said, crinkling his nose in disgust. 

“I do not stink,” Li said before he punched Louis' arm in retaliation. 

“Hey! I'm driving here!” Louis protested, gesturing to the road in front of them. 

“Sorry,” Li said, sounding nowhere close to apologetic. “But I still don't stink though,” he added. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis said, gingerly rubbing the sore spot on his bicep. 

A few moments of silence passed by and Louis could tell Li was making that sad face again. He sighed. “There'll be other leads. We'll figure this out,” Louis said softly. 

Li sighed as well. “I know. It's frustrating, is all. I haven't remembered anything useful too.” 

“That's not true. You remembered you could write music. That's useful. Well, useful to me at least. You helped me finish my song,” Louis said. 

Li seemed to think about that for a while, before he fidgeted in his seat and turned to Louis with new found determination burning in his eyes. “Let's get back to it then.” 

“Get back to what?” Louis asked. 

“Making music. I feel like composing something new. Gonna channel all this frustration into making something worthwhile,” Li said. 

“Alright, another writing session then?” Louis agreed, licking his lips. “I know just the place.” 

Li cocked his head to the side. “Where?” 

“You'll see,” Louis said, a wide smile on his face. He'd never been this excited to get to work, but he just couldn't wait to see Li's expression when he sees where they'd be going. 

>>>>

Li's reaction was priceless. 

His jaw dropped and his eyes sparkled with mirth once they stepped foot on the rooftop deck of Louis' building. “This is-- wow,” Li said, laughter bubbling as he practically bounced through the deck, going from one end to the next and gawking at the view of the night city. “How come this is the first time you brought me here?” Li asked. 

Louis shrugged. “Because it's freezing here at night,” he explained, shivering and tucking his hands under his armpits to make a point. 

Li scoffed. “It's not. It's perfect,” he said, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. “You come here often to write?” he asked. 

“Only when the weather's good,” Louis said, coming up to the ledge where Li was leaning against the railing. He looked down at the street below, at the tiny cars and tiny people going about their business. He did love the view. “It's a nice place to think.” 

“So we're staying here tonight?” 

“I'm heading back down as soon as I start losing feeling in me toes,” Louis said, bundling his himself tighter in his jacket. He should've gotten a thicker one back in his flat. 

“Right. Let's get to it then!” Li said, beaming at Louis. 

Ah, that smile alone could warm him right up, Louis thought. As well as those hands, those arms, that broad chest. Yeah, Louis was feeling warmer already. 

>>>>

“ _The priest thinks it's the devil, my mom thinks it's the flu, but girl, it's only you_ ,” Louis sang casually, testing the lyrics he and Li have strung together. They were back inside the flat in less than two hours, what with Louis constantly complaining about losing his toes to frostbite. 

“ _I said 'you're on fire, babe,' then down came the lightning on me_ ,” he sang next, and Li joined him, singing harmony in falsetto, adding color and dimension to Louis' own voice as he sung. _“Love can be frightening for sure...”_ they continued to sing together, and it sounded good. Better than good, it sounded brilliant, making Louis raise an eyebrow. 

“Oh so that's how it is. You're showing me up, huh?” Louis commented, punching Li's arm. 

“What?” Li asked, playing innocent. “I thought that part would sound better with a harmony.” 

“Showoff,” Louis accused. “Let's just get back to this, yeah?” he said, tapping his pen on his open notebook. 

“How come you're not writing with Niall or the others?” Li asked, biting his thumbnail. 

“We write together when we're on the road. Much easier to write with someone you spend every single minute of the day with, right?” Louis explained. “So when we're on our break, we go off on our own. Try to see as little of each other as possible. It's why Zayn likes to go MIA as soon as the break starts.” 

“Yeah but Harry came here... and so did Niall?” 

Louis shrugged. “You can't really keep Harry away even if you want to. And Niall... well, Niall's like spots on your face, you could say. Pops up in odd places and when you least expect it.” 

“They invited you out for drinks, right? Once Harry comes back,” Li asked. 

“He might've said something,” Louis said slowly, looking at Li with questioning eyes. “Why?” 

“You could go out, if you want,” Li said, not looking Louis in the eye as he wrote down a line of lyrics on paper. “You don't have to stay with me,” he added before he quickly scratched out the words he just wrote. “I'll be alright on my own.” 

“I'm not... I don't stay in because I think you need someone with you 24/7,” Louis said. 

“Then why?” Li asked, and this time he looked at Louis. “You look like you could use a good drink. You should relax, go out with your mates. Don't worry about me. I'll be here when you come back,” he said with a reassuring smile. “It's not like I've got anywhere else to go,” he added with a chuckle. 

“In case you haven't noticed, Li, I like staying indoors. I spend most of the year living in hotel rooms and the tour bus and having no time to rest and relax. But this, staying indoors and doing next to nothing all day, this is a luxury for me, yeah?” Louis explained. 

Li bit his bottom lip. “When you put it that way... I guess I understand it now,” Li said, nodding as if he's digesting the idea. “You think this line would work better if we move it to the second verse?” he asked, pointing at the scribbled notes on his paper. 

“I don't know. I think it's good where it's at— wait a second,” Louis said, pushing at Li's shoulder so he'd look at him. 

“What?” Li asked in confusion. 

Louis squinted as if he's studying Li's face. “You are a shit liar.” 

“What—?” Li balked. “A liar— what did I lie about exactly?” Li said, acting offended. 

“There it is again. You can't lie for shit. You asked me if I wanna go out for drinks with Harry and Niall, but it doesn't really matter what I say because _you_ wanna go out for drinks,” Louis said, laughing. 

Li opened his mouth to deny it, but closed it again when Louis sent him a look that said 'just try to lie to me one more time'. “Alright,” Li said, chuckling. “I wanna go out for drinks,” he confessed with a bashful smile. 

“There, was that so hard to say?” Louis asked, going for Li's nipple, but Li's gotten a little too good at catching Louis' hand in such a short time, holding his hand in his to stop the onslaught. It was both frustrating and oddly pleasing for Louis (Li had great hands. Long fingers, firm grip. Yeah. Oddly pleasing indeed). 

“It doesn't matter. If you don't want to go out, I'm fine with staying here. We can keep writing or—” Li was saying, jerking and grabbing Louis' other hand when it darted in to tweak his nipple. “Stop it. What is with you and nipples?” 

“I have a thing. It's my thing. Are you kink shaming me, Li?” Louis said jokingly, even if it might've been closer to the truth than he'd care to admit. 

Li just gave Louis a fond look, shaking his head and keeping his hands holding Louis' tightly. 

“So, tell me again: you wanna go drinking with me mates?” Louis asked, not bothering to struggle against Li's hold on his hands. He was perfectly fine right where he was, thank you very much. 

“Only if you want to,” Li answered. “Or I mean, if you think it's a good idea. Because they might think I'm weird? Niall seemed okay but, I dunno, what if they accidentally find out about me? Do you think they'll take it well that I, you know—?” Li babbled. 

“My dear boy, you worry too much,” bringing both his hands (still with Li holding them) up to cup Li's face and smush his cheeks. “I'll send a message to the boys, tell them to schedule a lads' night out to meet my totally normal 'cousin from France', alright?” 

“I guessh,” Li said, struggling to smile with Louis' hands still smushing his face. 

“Great!” Louis said before letting go of Li's face and patting it lovingly. It was a nice face. He liked that face. “Harry would be back in a couple of days, if you can find something decent to wear that's _not_ from Harry's suitcase, that'd be perfect. You might accidentally match and we can't have that, right? My reputation as your 'cousin' is on the line.” 

“Would you rather I borrow one of your band shirts again? That way _we_ match instead?” Li joked. 

“Are you mocking my taste in fashion, Li?” Louis asked, appalled. 

Li giggled, and barely had time to defend himself when Louis launched forward and attacked him with vicious, pinching hands. “Stop! Stop! Oh god, stop!” Li yelped helplessly. 

Louis ignored him and continued to attack him, laughing maniacally. 

>>>>

_When the sun goes down I know that you and me and everything will be alright._

_And when the city's sleeping, you and I could stay awake and keep on dreaming._

_You and I could stay awake and keep on dreaming._

>>>>

Louis instantly felt a headache coming on when Harry appeared at his doorstep a few days later, dressed flamboyantly and looking every bit a rock star in his satin pink shirt and glittery silver boots. 

“What?” Harry asked defensively when Louis gave him that look that clearly showed his disapproval of Harry's fashion choices. 

“This is supposed to be just a low key lads night out, not a red carpet—” 

“Oh, hello!” Harry said, sidestepping Louis as soon as he spotted Li hovering by the living room threshold. 

“Hello,” Li said shyly. 

Harry grinned, all dimples and charm and a glint in his eyes that almost always spelled trouble. “It's terrible the airline lost all your luggage,” Harry said, face going all sad as he moved towards Li to shake his hand. 

“Harold, Li. Li, Harold,” Louis said, glaring daggers at the back of Harry's head as he shut the door behind him. If Harry was doing what Louis thought he was doing, then they needed to have a serious talk later. 

“Uh, yeah, terrible,” Li agreed, glancing nervously at Louis before smiling and taking Harry's hand for a shake. 

Once their fingers touched, however, Harry frowned and froze, staring at at Li's face like he was scrutinizing every little freckle under his eyes. “You--” Harry whispered, gripping Li's hand and refusing to let go. 

“Erm...” Li smiled self consciously and fidgeted under Harry's gaze. 

“Excuse me boys,” Louis said, shouldering his way in between Li and Harry, effectively breaking Harry's grip on Li's hand. “Something wrong, Harry?” Louis asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Harry seemed to have recovered himself, shaking his head and pushing the hair from his face. “You don't sound French,” Harry commented with a small, innocent smile. 

“Uh... I, erm, only lived there for a short while?” Li answered tentatively. 

Louis rolled his eyes and decided to step in to save Li from accidentally divulging the whole transformation story to Harry. “His whole family moved to France a couple of months ago. He's just here on holiday.” 

“Ah, I see. Well, I hope you liked my clothes,” Harry said. “That's a lovely shirt, by the way,” he said, paying real close attention to the button down shirt Li was wearing, courtesy of Harry's personal shopper. 

“Thank you, and I did— I do. I do like your clothes. They're really nice,” Li said appreciatively, and Louis wasn't sure if he was just being nice or if he genuinely liked Harry's taste in fashion. “I mean, I haven't gotten around to trying most of them out because they seem too nice to just wear around the flat, but really, they're great. Thank you so much for them,” he babbled. 

“Well I'm glad,” Harry said, flashing Li a warm, dimpled smile. “Anything for a friend. Or a friend's cousin. You know, it's odd Louis' never mentioned you before...” 

Li looked at Louis with alarmed eyes, and Louis just kicked his foot against Li's to stop him from panicking. 

“...I mean you think he would've told us he had a cousin who was so fit—” Harry said smoothly. 

“Aaand that's why I didn't tell you,” Louis jumped in, trying to resist the urge to punch Harry in the balls. He knew he was going to go this way eventually. “Family, Harry. Off limits,” he admonished, while Li looked down shyly at his feet with a blush staining his cheeks. 

“I wasn't trying anything with Li here. Honest,” Harry said, going for innocent. “It's just a shame you never introduced Li to me and the boys before.” 

“Well here he is. He's been introduced. Now let's go,” Louis said, grabbing his keys and walking back towards the door. 

“Wait a sec,” Harry said, walking around the living room and peeking behind the couch and the furniture. 

“What are you doing?” Louis asked impatiently. 

“I wanna say 'hi' to Dog,” Harry said, frowning when he couldn't find a trace of the dog. 

“Lottie took him in for the night,” Louis lied instantly, giving Li an 'I got this' look while Harry was busy looking behind the bookshelf for the dog. 

“Oh, is that so?” Harry said, but it didn't look like he believed Louis since he moved to the dining room to look under the dining table. “That's awfully nice of her,” he said distractedly. 

“He's not here, Harry,” Louis said impatiently, foot tapping on the floor as he waited for Harry to finish his sweep of the kitchen. “Why are you so hell bent on looking for the dog?” 

“Nothing, nothing. I just wanted another picture for Instagram,” he said, turning to face them. “Hey, what's your Instagram, Li?” he asked, hands clasped behind his back as he gave Li a slow (and slightly confusing) smile. 

“Er... I don't have one. M'not into the whole, uh, selfie or social media thing,” Li said, and Louis would give him credit for not totally struggling with the lie. 

“Are you sure?” Harry asked, grinning slyly. “You look like someone who likes a good selfie or two,” Harry teased. 

“He's sure,” Louis asked with a roll of his eyes. 

“Right,” Harry said with a nod, that off-putting smile still lingering on his lips. 

Louis looked at Harry then back at Li, who was fidgeting under Harry's scrutiny. He had a feeling Harry was starting to suspect something. “Shall we go then?” he said to get Harry off of Li's back. “Niall's waiting at the club and most likely halfway to pissed already.” 

Li perked up at Louis' words and he turned to him with an expectant look on his face, like a kid told they'd be going to Disneyland. Or more accurately, a dog told they'd be going out for a walk. “Let's go?” Li asked, nervousness suddenly replaced by buzzing excitement. 

“Let's go,” Louis said, grinning widely. Maybe a few drinks was worth the constant lying Louis had to do for Li's sake. The smile on Li's face certainly seemed worth it already. 

>>>>

Louis hadn't realized just how much he needed a night out with the boys until he was smushed into a booth next to Li, his stomach hurting from laughing so hard at one of Niall's jokes. In fact, it was one of the best night's he's had in a while. 

He had no doubts Niall and Harry would take a liking to Li (he was very easy to like, after all). They joked and bantered like they've known Li for far longer than they have, Li getting into a lengthy conversation with Niall about guitars, and gushing with Harry about this reggae song Louis' never heard of before, and Harry offering tips on how to care for suede boots, of all things. 

It was a shame Zayn was still MIA. He couldn't wait for his best mate to meet Li. He was sure they'd spend their time being total dorks about the new Marvel movies, like he and Li did on occasion. How Li could spout obscure comic book references but couldn't even remember his real name was beyond Louis. 

Still, it was nice seeing Li fit so well into their gang in such a short time. It made Louis feel pleasantly warm all over. 

Of course, that could just be because Li was leaning heavily against him, his hot breath against Louis' neck as he giggled at Niall's retelling of his unfortunate golfing accident. Li was giddy and warm and oh so near and it was doing funny things deep in Louis' belly (and further down in his pants). Louis tried to act like it was nothing, that Li clinging to him was having no effect on him. 

He wasn't that successful, it seemed, because Harry still kept glancing at them from across the table, a small smile playing on his lips like knew something Louis didn't. It was driving Louis mad. 

“You alright there, lad?” Louis asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry. 

“'M fine. Just wondering,” Harry said, turning to Li. “You've never been to any of our shows or to any of Lou's parties,” he observed. 

“Louis throws the best parties,” Niall chimed in. “The New Year's Eve party last time was sick!” 

Harry nodded. “And you weren't at Jay's wedding...” 

The dopey smile that had been on Li's face all night faltered for a bit, and Louis set his pint down a little too hard on the table in irritation. And just when he thought the night was going well. “I don't know where this is going, Harry, but—” 

“I'm just wondering, is all,” Harry repeated, all wide-eyed innocence. As if he was just genuinely curious. “How come we've never seen you before?” 

Li froze beside Louis, and Louis tried to reassure him with a comforting hand on his thigh (that may have been a little too high and too close to the goods, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that). 

Harry was at it again. Louis thought he'd let go of Li's sort of ambiguous origins when he got to know him, but apparently Harry wasn't done chewing this particular bone. “It's uh...” Louis began, brain trying to come up with a lie but the alcohol was slowing down his thought process. In hindsight, this 'cousin' story probably wasn't such a good idea. The boys knew Louis too well. 

“I'm more of a long lost cousin,” Li suddenly chimed in. “Met Louis for the first time fairly recently,” he explained. That part wasn't a lie, and Louis smiled smugly. 

“Yes that,” Louis said. “He's a distant cousin. Way, way, way distant. Like thrice, quadruple, quintuple? Is that a word? Quintuple times removed or whatever. Barely even related.” 

“But he's still your cousin,” Harry summed up, though he looked like he didn't believe a word they said. 

“Exactly!” 

“That explains why you don't have the Yorkshire accent,” Niall pointed out. 

“Ah, there you go,” Louis agreed, grinning widely. 

“So where're you from then? Originally?” Harry asked Li. 

Li went stock still and Louis could see the panic in his eyes. 

“What is with the twenty questions, Harry? Can't you stop interrogating Li for one--” 

“Wolverhampton!” Li suddenly blurted out. 

“What?” Louis looked at Li in disbelief. 

Li was laughing, bouncing on his seat as he turned to look at Louis. “I'm from Wolverhampton!” he declared, body thrumming with energy, and oh, Louis finally understood why. 

Li wasn't lying. He remembered something again. 

“He's from Wolverhampton, boys!” Louis said, laughter bubbling from his throat as he looked at Niall and Harry across the table. 

They must've looked like two idiots, laughing with seemingly no reason at all, but Niall and Harry just laughed along with them. “Alright, to Wolverhampton then!” Harry said, bringing his beer up for a toast. 

“To Wolverhampton!” Li emphatically agreed, bringing his beer up. 

“To Ireland!” Niall chimed in. 

“Oh shut up, Niall,” Louis said without any venom, and they laughed and clinked their glasses together before chugging their drinks. 

Louis slammed his glass down and looked at Li, watched his throat work as he finished his drink. He suddenly felt extremely parched even if he'd just finished drinking. 

  
“Another round?” he heard Harry say, and Louis turned to look at him, expecting that all-knowing smile on his face. 

Except Harry had gone beyond all-knowing this time. He smiled now like he understood, understood exactly what Louis was going through. And fuck it, maybe it was the alcohol talking, but Louis couldn't be bothered to care anymore. 

“Another round for Li here!” Louis said, swinging an arm behind Li's shoulder and pulling him closer to him. 

Li just giggled against Louis' ear, and Louis didn't even pretend to be unaffected. He blushed and wrapped his arm tighter around Li's shoulder. 

Harry watched them for a couple of seconds before smiling fondly. “This round's on me,” he declared. 

Louis knew a peace offering when he saw one, and he nodded and grinned at Harry. There wasn't an immediate need to strangle Harry tonight. He could live to wear his sparkly boots another day. “Perfect.” 

>>>>

'Perfect' was also the best word to describe how Louis felt hours later, when he was back in his living room, straddling Li's lap and kissing him like his life depended on it. 

He couldn't recall how he got back to his flat after all that drinking, but he didn't care. He was kissing—finally kissing!— Li, and oh, if it wasn't the best feeling in the world. Li's mouth was made for kissing, and Louis thought he was going mad with how much he wanted that mouth on every other inch of his skin. And he meant Every. Single. Inch. 

They'd get there eventually, Louis promised himself. 

For now, he reveled on the feeling of Li's lips and tongue, and how Li's big hands, warm and strong, held on to Louis' hips like he wanted to secure him on top of him, keep him in place as he ground their hips together. 

He was brilliant at this, Louis would give him that, and he shuddered at the feeling of their clothed crotches rubbing against each other. He wanted all these clothes off, wanted to finally run his hands through Li's chest hair, follow the trail down to his surreal abs and even lower, lower to where Louis wanted to feel Li the most. He couldn't wait to feel Li all over him, on him, _in_ him, and he moaned at the thought, felt himself clenching in anticipation. 

His pants suddenly feel incredibly tight, and another roll of Li's hips under him felt like pure agony, like he was about to explode, come his brains out before they even got a single article of clothing off. But maybe that wasn't so bad. He was sure Li could make him come again and again later until Louis was a sobbing, writhing mess. The thought alone had Louis shuddering, because damn Li for being so fit and so fucking talented with his tongue in Louis' mouth and his hips doing crazy things to Louis' erection. He had to be punished somehow, so Louis bit at Li's full bottom lip—hard— and pulled, making Li hiss in a mixture of pain and pleasure. 

“Ow! Are you sure you're not part dog yourself?” Li chuckled, his thumbs drawing lazy circles on Louis' skin from where his shirt rode up on his hips. 

“Why? Does that make your doggie side hot?” Louis said with a sly smile. 

“If you weren't on me lap already, I'd be humping your leg,” Li returned, grinning mischievously. 

Louis barked out a laugh, holding on to Li's shoulders for support. Li was probably the only person that could make him burn hot with arousal one minute and make him nearly piss his pants laughing the next. 

“I fucking love you,” Louis said fondly, cupping Li's face and in his hands and kissing him. 

“Thnksh bu ish jshs pffakes,” Li was trying to say even as Louis was kissing him. 

“What?” Louis said, reluctantly pulling away from Li's lips. 

“I said, 'Thanks. But it's just pancakes.'” Li repeated. 

“Pancakes?” Louis gave him a confused look, studying Li's face and trying to see if 'pancakes' was some sort of euphemism. 

“Pancakes? I made breakfast,” Li explained like it was the most natural thing in the world. Only, it wasn't Li's voice that was coming out of his mouth. It was deeper, slightly rough, the words rolling out of his mouth glacially slow. 

It was Harry's. 

“Harold?” Louis asked incredulously. 

“Uh-huh,” Li answered in Harry's voice. 

“Wha—!” Louis recoiled and tumbled off of Li's lap and flat on his back on the living room floor. 

Only when Louis opened his eyes, he wasn't in the living room. He was in his bedroom, on the floor next to his bed with his legs tangled in the sheets, dazed and still painfully aroused. 

Harry loomed over him with a concerned expression. “Are you okay?” 

Louis blinked up at Harry several times, trying to get his bearings. He wasn't in the living room snogging the daylights out of Li. He was in his room, dreaming, the entire time. 

Well, that was a disappointment of epic proportions. 

“Ah fuck,” Louis groaned, feeling the hard situation between his legs wane considerably. 

“That was quite a fall. Didn't mean to wake you up like that,” Harry said, extending a hand out to help Louis. 

“'M fine,” Louis said, taking Harry's hand and allowing Harry to hoist him up. “What time is it?” he asked, collapsing back on his bed with a long sigh. 

“It's 8 in the morning. I made pancakes,” Harry said, giving Louis a dimpled smile. “It's got berries and sliced fruit and lotsa syrup.” 

“It's still too bloody early, why are you even awake?” Louis groaned. “What're you doing here anyway?” Louis asked groggily, turning to bury his face in his pillow, but he got his answer the moment his nose was buried in Niall's head of peroxide blond hair. 

“I only slept for a couple of hours. Jet lag,” Harry explained. “Came here after the club last night, don't you remember? We all crashed on your bed 'cause no one wanted the couch, and your guest bedroom's a pigsty, did you know that? Even Niall didn't want to go near it. And Li— ” Harry said, but he stopped abruptly when his eyes landed on the other side of the bed. “—was just here minutes ago.” 

Louis froze, eyes going wide with fear. He bolted upright, looking across the bed. Dog Li was curled there sleeping on a pile of Li's clothes from the night before, Niall's bony leg draped carelessly on top of him. 

Louis looked back at Harry in alarm. He didn't see the transformation, did he? Of course he didn't. Otherwise he wouldn't be looking so confused that the dog was sleeping on the bed instead of Li. 

Harry was frowning, staring hard at the dog for a few, agonizingly long seconds. But then the deep crease between his brows slowly disappeared, replaced by an expression that Louis could only describe as 'cautiously excited'. Like he'd just found out something amazing and he wanted to hold out on celebrating in case he were wrong. 

Fuck. 

“Lou...” Harry began slowly. 

Louis felt his face grow very pale. “Yeah?” 

“Is there, uh, something you're not telling me?” 

“Uh... like what, pray tell?” Louis asked coyly. He didn't want to be the one to blurt out Li's secret. 

“Like... did Li... just turn into your dog?” Harry ventured. 

“My dog-- haha that's really funny, Harry. Real funny--” Louis said, laughing a little to loudly to be real. 

Harry frowned. “Come on, this is serious.” 

“Haha, I am serious,” Louis said, contradicting his words with another forced out laugh. “So serious. You're being ridiculous, Harold.” 

“Louis,” he said Louis' name very slowly, extending the syllables and making them sound a mile long. 

“What?” Louis said, playing innocent. 

“Is Li... a Were-Labradoodle?” Harry ventured. 

Louis wanted to laugh for real at how ridiculous the suggestion sounded, except that Harry probably put it very succinctly for a change. Plus, that serious, expectant face Harry was making gave Louis pause. He knew he wasn't going to get out of this situation easily. There was no use denying it any further. 

He took a deep breath and decided to fuck it. “Something like that?” Louis admitted tentatively. 

There was an agonizing few seconds when Harry didn't react at all, and a thousand and one ways Louis could salvage the situation ran through his head. He could take Li and run off, disappear to some remote location where nobody would ever find out about him. Or he could blackmail Harry into silence. He had pictures. And videos. Lots of videos. 

Then all of a sudden, Harry was grinning from ear to ear like a maniac. “No fucking way,” he said slowly, before bursting into laughter. “I knew it!” 

Louis chuckled, shoulders sagging in relief. There was no need for an escape plan or blackmail just yet. 

But then what Harry said finally registered in Louis' still sleep-sluggish brain. “Wait a sec. What do you mean you knew it?” he asked disbelieving. “You knew Li transformed into a dog?” 

Harry giggled. “Sort of? I mean, I kinda felt something weird when I met Dog for the first time. Like there was this weird aura surrounding him,” he said as he rounded the bed to loom over the sleeping dog, giddy and excited like he'd just opened his Christmas present and couldn't wait to play with it. “This is so cool,” he said breathlessly. “Look at him! He's got the eyebrows too. It's pretty obvious now when you think about it.” 

“You felt a weird aura?” Louis asked, still skeptical of Harry's words. Then again, they were talking about a human that changed into a dog. Harry and his auras or chi or chakra senses shouldn't sound that weird anymore. 

“Mm... didn't wanna tell you before because it might freak you out and you might return the dog for adoption so...” he said, shrugging. He reached a hand out to touch the dog, but stopped midway and glanced at Louis. “Would it be weird if I...?” he said, asking permission to touch the dog. 

“I don't get why you're asking me,” Louis said, but he gestured his approval just the same. 

“This is just so freaky. Cool, but so freaky,” Harry said, inspecting the dog's ear like he'd find some answers there. “I told you he was special though, right? Thought that might give you a hint or summat, but I just didn't realize how special he was until I met Li and I felt the same aura on him,” he explained. 

“So naturally you thought him and the dog were one and the same,” Louis concluded. He never could've predicted he'd be having a fairly rational conversation about Li's little transformation problem with Harry at 8 in the morning while he was still pretty much hungover. 

“I had my suspicions,” Harry admitted. “Either that or the dodgy breakfast burrito I ate yesterday morning was making me hallucinate.” 

“Right,” Louis said, rubbing at his throbbing temple. He needed a paracetamol. “So I imagine you've got loads of questions about this,” Louis said. 

“Oh a ton,” Harry confirmed, grinning. 

“I can answer a few but I think it's best if Li answers them himself. He turns human at sunset,” Louis revealed. 

Harry's eyes grew wide at the information. “That's a long time...” 

Louis shrugged. “Not if we sleep it off.” 

“Sure. I just have one question though.” 

“Shoot.” 

“So is this a family curse thing or Niall and I have been right all along and Li's not really your cousin?” Harry tried. 

“You and Ni— oh all right!” Louis said, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Li's not my cousin.” 

“Nice,” Harry said, grin turning smug. 

“Don't give me that look,” Louis said, swinging his legs to the side of the bed to get up. 

“I'm not giving you any look. Li's pretty fit, isn't he? When he's not all furry like this,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Oh just shut up, Harold.” 

>>>>

The moment Dog Li woke up that morning with Harry looking at him with wide-eyed wonder, Louis had informed him that Harry found out. Li didn't seem bothered by it. He almost looked relieved, and oddly happy, when Harry started talking to him like a person. Harry realized soon enough, though, that Li couldn't answer his questions, so he just settled on giving him his own plate of pancakes and hand feeding him fruits. 

>>>>

“So... what you're tellin' me is...” Niall began, slouching onto a chair in the dining room as he sipped on the kale smoothie Harry made. It was a testament to how hung over he was that he didn't even question what the green concoction was and just straight up drank from it. “Yer dog. That furry thing right there...” he said, pointing his bare foot at the dog eating a banana from Harry's outstretched hand. “...is yer cousin Li.” 

“He's not Louis' cousin,” Harry clarified. 

Niall's eyes grew wide at that, and he smirked at Louis. “Knew it. Nice try though, Louis.” 

Louis just rolled his eyes. 

“So what's the punch line then?” Niall asked, sipping from his drink again, and finally flinching at the taste, after finishing more than half of it. 

“What punch line? There's no punch line. It's the truth,” Louis said, crossing his arms on his chest. “You don't believe us?” 

“Please,” Niall said, scoffing. “You seriously want me to believe that Li's been Swan Queen-ed?” 

“What?” Louis frowned. 

“Swan Queen. You know—” Niall said, unhelpfully. 

“He means the story of the ballet, Swan Lake. Girl gets turned into a swan and only turns human at night,” Harry supplied. “She can only break the curse if she finds true love. Classic fairy tale stuff.” 

Louis paused to think about that. True love? Fairy Tale? That couldn't be what this was, right? It would be too naïve to think that love could solve all their problems. “Something like that, I guess,” Louis answered. 

“Of course, in the end the Swan Queen and her prince drown themselves in a lake and die together so... not a very nice fairy tale then,” Harry added with a grimace. 

Louis flinched. “That's a shit story.” 

“Alright,” Niall said, finishing his drink and setting it on the table with a loud thud. “There's only one way to settle this,” he said. “I'm staying here tonight. I wanna see this transformation for meself,” he said, clearly still skeptical of the whole thing. 

“You wanna see? You too, Harry?” Louis asked. 

“I wanna see it too,” Harry said with a nod. 

Louis bit his lip. He knew the moment they found out that they'd eventually want to witness the transformation. But Louis knew it was a very uncomfortable experience for Li. It was when he looked the weakest, the most vulnerable, and he wasn't sure if Li would be fine if other people saw him like that. Louis wasn't sure himself if he wanted anybody else to see Li like that as well. “You're okay with this?” he asked Li. “They're gonna watch you transform later...” 

The dog nodded in response, and Niall started laughing uncontrollably in his seat. 

“What's so funny?” Louis asked irritably. Couldn't he see this was a very serious thing for them? 

“Ya even got your dog doing tricks for this prank. This is ridiculous, I'm loving every second of it,” Niall said. 

“It's not a trick or a prank. Oh, I can't wait to wipe that smirk off your face when you see just how wrong you are,” Louis said. 

“I'm just waiting to see how long you can keep up the prank,” Niall said, plucking a berry from the stash of pancakes Harry laid out for him. “This is gonna be so much fun!” he declared, grinning. 

>>>>

It wasn't that fun for Niall, as it turned out. 

Harry had gone out to run a few errands and promised to return before sunset. But stubbornly, Niall refused to leave the flat, lazing around on Louis' couch and watching telly all afternoon. It had gotten boring pretty fast. 

“When's Li coming back?” he asked, clearly trying to catch Louis on a lie. He had a bag of crisps open on his lap and he was tossing the dog a piece every now and then. 

“He's not. He's right there,” Louis answered with a roll of his eyes, nodding towards the dog munching crisps on the floor. That was the third time Niall asked about Li, and it was getting tiring. 

“Right,” Niall said. 

“You're gonna make him fat,” Louis quipped when Niall wouldn't stop giving Li food. 

“I don't think eating a few crisps is gonna give your boyfriend a flabby tummy,” Niall said. 

“Li's not—” Louis choked. 

“Your dog? Of course he's not,” Niall said, smirking. 

“That's not it. Li's— He's not—he's not my boyfriend. Just stop it,” Louis stuttered. 

“It's okay. You don't have to hide it. It's good, I think. That you finally found someone. It's been a while since El. Plus, Li seems like a great guy. I like him. I'm real happy for you,” Niall said, a genuine smile on his face. 

“I told you, Li's not my— it's not like that,” Louis said, trying to stop the blush from spreading all over his face. 

Li, for his part, looked embarrassed as well. 

“No fucking way it's not. Li's exactly your type!” Niall said, genuinely confused. “I saw the way you two look at each other. It's pretty obvious you wanna pounce on him and—” 

“Ohmygod, Niall. Just stop talking!” Louis said in mortification, rubbing his face with frustrated hands. “Li's a dog right now but he can understand you perfectly fine.” 

“He-- oh. _Oh_ ,” Niall said, glancing at the dog, and wow, it was almost believable how mortified the dog looked. “We're still playing this game, huh?” Niall asked. “Alright. Fine. Sorry, Li. Forget everything I said. Was just teasing,” he told the dog, patting him on the head patronizingly. “Your owner doesn't wanna hump your brains out. Not while you're furry, at least.” 

“I'm gonna fucking kill you when this is all over,” Louis grumbled. 

>>>>

“You're not serious,” Niall said, laughing as he watched Louis lay down a pile of clothes at the dog's feet. 

“He's gonna need clothes for when he changes back, alright? We do this every night,” Louis said in irritation. He couldn't wait to shut Niall up. 

“It's kinda sweet how you take care of him,” Harry said, handing Louis a towel to drape over the dog's shoulders. 

“It's— it's the least I could do,” Louis said, trying not to get flustered. 

He crouched next to Li and tightened the towel over his shoulders. He felt a bit apprehensive. After all this time, somebody else was going to know Li's secret. It was a scary thing, because maybe, Li wouldn't need him as much. If he wasn't the only one Li relied on, then he had nothing to keep Li by his side. He was being selfish, he knew that. And yet still, he couldn't stop the dark thoughts from forming in his mind. 

Louis noticed how scared and small Li looked and his face softened. He had no right to be selfish. This was never about him. This was about Li. Always been about Li. Louis had no idea how he could help him. He knew he couldn't do this alone anymore. They needed some help, and Harry and Niall could be their best shot at getting some answers. They could all figure this out together. It was worth a shot. 

“They'll be great, I promise,” Louis reassured Li. “Known these boys a long time. They won't hurt you,” he whispered. “And if they freak out, don't worry. I'm locking them in me bathroom 'til they cool down. Or I'll kick them outta me flat— through the window.” 

“That's nice to know, Louis,” Niall quipped. 

“Don't think I wouldn't do it though,” Louis threatened as he stood up. “It's almost time. You ready?” he asked Li. 

The dog looked up at him and nodded meekly. 

“Right. You two,” he said, pointing at Harry and Niall. “Don't blink. It only lasts like a minute, then it's all over.” 

Niall sat up on the couch, watching like he's about to witness a magic trick and he couldn't wait to scrutinize every detail to prove how fake it was. Harry, meanwhile, was glued to the floor, standing there with his hands clasped in front of him like he was as nervous as Louis felt. 

Time felt agonizingly slow as they waited. Louis had lost count of all the times he'd seen Li transform, but he never could get used to it. Never could stop that feeling of horror as he witnessed the first jolt of pain that twisted through Li's body, the first sign that his transformation had finally begun. 

He waited for it this time, the seconds ticking by in super slow motion. 

Then Li flinched. 

And suddenly the seconds felt like they were crashing against one another. Too soon and too fast to keep up with everything that was happening. 

He heard Harry gasp, and thought he'd feel smug, vindicated, when Niall's face froze in shock as Li transformed right in front of them. Instead, he felt an overwhelming urge to run up to Li and cover him, hide him from anybody else's eyes. 

But before he could move, it was over. Li's hands slowly came up to draw the towel around his bare shoulders. He peered from behind strands of loose, curling hair on his forehead and smiled sheepishly at them. “Uh... hi?” he said shyly. 

Louis let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and grinned. Beside him, Harry chuckled, running a shaking hand through his long hair. Louis turned to Niall, who still didn't move an inch, too shocked to say or do anything. “Well, Nialler?” Louis asked, allowing himself to feel a bit smug now. 

Niall looked at Louis then back at Li, then his face contorted into quite possibly the biggest grin Louis had ever seen on him. “Well fuck me! That was awesome!” he said, before bursting into laughter. 

>>>>

“This all feels like a fairy tale, if you ask me,” Niall said, waving his half eaten chicken leg in the air. 

It was nearing midnight and they were all sat in Louis' living room sharing what's left of the beer and Nando's takeaway that Niall bought earlier that night, claiming it was essential to have alcohol and chicken while Louis and Li explained the whole transformation story. Louis, Li and Harry were all squeezed in the couch while Niall was sprawled on the floor next to their feet. 

“For the last time, Li's not the Swan Queen,” Louis insisted, tickling Niall's side with his toes. 

“Ah ah! I know, I know,” Niall said, squirming away. “Not a fairy tale then. How about a superhero origin story!” he declared. 

Li giggled. “I like the sound of that way better.” 

“Yeah, 'cause see, you have your tragic back story: you got hit by a car and you can't remember your past,” Niall went on. “So now you've got your reluctant side kick, Louis, helping you out.” 

“Side kick?” Louis balked. “Why am I the sidekick in this story?” 

“We're all sidekicks!” Niall declared. 

“Can't we all be superheroes instead?” Li suggested. “Like the Avengers!” 

“Even better. Harry's the weird, spiritual superhero. I'm the happy-go-lucky one. And Zayn, of course, once he finds out, he gets to be the nerdy, quiet one,” Niall decided. 

“Zayn might have an idea about how we could solve this mystery, now that you've mentioned him,” Harry said thoughtfully. 

Louis frowned. “Why'd you reckon he could help?” 

“If this is kind of like a comic book story, isn't Zayn the biggest comic book enthusiast of us all? You've always said he's like an encyclopedia of useless comic book knowledge,” Harry explained. “Maybe there's, I don't know, established lore about transformation magic like this?” 

Louis perked up at the suggestion. “You may be onto something, Harold,” he said, but immediately deflated when he remembered just why Zayn wasn't there in the first place. “Fuck, but he's MIA right now.” 

“I'll send him a text,” Harry said, pulling out his phone. “We have a studio session in a couple of days. He should be heading back to London soon,” he said as he typed out a message on his phone. 

“Studio session?” Li asked, sitting up in attention. “Like recording songs and stuff?” 

“Most of the time, yeah. It's more of a meeting with producers, for now. We're gonna have a listen at all the new songs everyone came up with,” Louis explained. 

“Even the ones we wrote?” Li asked hopefully. 

“Wait, you wrote songs... together?” Niall asked, pausing with his drink midway to his mouth. 

“Just a couple,” Li admitted rather bashfully. 

Niall and Harry both gave Louis a look that was a little too loaded for Louis' liking. 

“What?” Louis asked, taking offense at the twin looks of surprise directed at him. “Li's got a talent for writing-— a-and singing. He's a singer too,” Louis stammered, knowing full well that that wasn't what they meant. After all, songwriting with Li was just that: writing songs. It didn't have to mean anything more. It didn't. 

“So you're finally outta your slump, eh? I wonder why...” Niall said cryptically. 

“You sing, Li?” Harry asked, nudging Li's shoulder with his own. 

Li blushed. “Well enough, I suppose. I can't remember much, but I just have this feeling that music must've been a big part of me... the me before, you know, all of this,” he said, his face glowing as he talked. “I can't explain it,” he said, shrugging. 

“I think I understand,” Harry said slowly. “Even if you can't remember, you just know. It's one of those things.” 

A smile spread across Li's face. “Sort of, yeah.” 

“You could come to the studio, if you want,” Niall suggested. 

“That's--” Li's face brightened. But before he could say anything else, Harry interjected. 

“Niall, it's at two in the afternoon. I'm not sure if they'll allow pets inside,” Harry reminded him. 

“It's fine. He could come when we've got night sessions, right Li?” Niall said. 

“I-I could? It'd be great if I could come watch you guys work,” he said, fidgeting in his seat in excitement. “I'll try not to be a bother, so could you take me sometime?” he asked Louis, busting out the puppy dog eyes. 

Li just looked so hopeful and excited, there was no force in the universe that could make Louis say 'no'. “Sure. It'd be fun,” he answered, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal. 

“Can't wait!” Li said with a giggle and a shrug, looking at Louis like he'd just offered him the moon. If it were up to Louis, he'd give Li the whole universe just so he'd always look at him like that. 

Ah, he really did have it bad, didn't he? 

>>>>


	7. Chapter 7

Louis used to love the early mornings. Those quiet hours just before sunrise when everybody else was sleeping and the only thing he could hear was the breathing of the Earth and the songs playing in his mind. It was the time when he felt he was genuinely at peace. Genuinely alive. 

He didn't love the early mornings now as much as he used to. To him, early mornings just meant that Li was going to turn into a dog again soon, and he'd spend the rest of the day just waiting and waiting for him to turn back. To come back to him. 

He felt that way right now, sat on his couch with Li as they watched some B-movie action flick that he couldn't remember the title of. Niall had long since left for his own flat since he'd promised to meet with some friends from Ireland in the morning. Harry's jet lag caught up to him soon after and he ended up passed out and drooling all over Louis' carpet before Louis and Li had to bodily drag him to Louis' bedroom so he could have a proper rest. 

So after all those hours of excitement (and food and booze), Louis was just glad for this quiet moment watching some telly with Li. 

It felt overly domestic and normal, and maybe that's why it seemed more special to him. Special because, at some point halfway into the movie, Louis had cuddled up next to Li, resting his head against his shoulder, and Li's arm came around to pull him closer, and really, it should freak Louis out that they were this close, but it just felt right. Perfect. 

He may not love it as much as he did before, but early mornings were still the time when Li was by his side, and the world and all the problems that came along with it just ceased to exist in Louis' mind. 

“I'm glad you told Harry and Niall.” 

“Mm... I kinda didn't have a choice with Harry, though. Found it out on his own, that cheeky brat,” Louis said. 

“Still, it feels like we're not alone in this. You don't have to try so hard anymore for my sake. We've got help now,” Li went on. 

Louis pulled away from Li slightly so he could look up at his face. “Don't say that,” he chastised. 

“Say what?” Li asked, confused. 

“Don't say it like you're being a burden to me. I've never thought of you like that,” Louis told him. 

“I know you don't,” Li said, smiling a little bitterly. “You've been nothing but nice to me. I just... I wish there was something I could be doing for you in return. Just so I'd feel like I'm not abusing your kindness... argh! I dunno,” he said, scratching his head in frustration. “Feels like I'm freeloading and all I do is give you more problems when you obviously don't need it.” 

“What's gotten you into this mood?” Louis asked. Now _he_ was the one who was confused. 

“Nothing, just... all those things I've been hearing from Niall and Harry, they start to make sense now,” Li said. 

Louis felt like his heart was beating out of his throat at Li's words. Shit. Did he—? Could he have found out about Louis' feelings? Niall and Harry haven't been subtle about it at all. Those arseholes. If Li started feeling awkward about him now, he would never forgive those two. 

“I've always wondered why you kept yourself locked up in this flat all day long. Or why you seemed, I dunno, listless the first few days I was here. And Niall mentioned you were on a writing slump for so long...” 

Louis swallowed. “Alright...” he said slowly. 

Li fidgeted, like he was unsure of how to go about saying the next few words. 

Louis felt like he was going to puke. This was it. Li was going to reject him. Oh god, how could they continue— 

“...was it because of El?” 

Louis choked on air. “Huh? What?!” 

“El. I keep hearing that name. You seem more pissed than usual whenever that name pops up. Are you heartbroken? Is that it?” Li asked, genuine worry on his face. “If that's it, you should've told me.” 

Louis gaped. This wasn't what he expected at all. “That's what's been worrying you this whole time?” 

Li nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. “I just thought, I've been here this whole time and I never knew you were going through this rough patch and I feel insensitive and like if I'd known... I could've helped somehow? I don't know. I don't even know what I'm thinking, really.” 

Louis leaned forward and patronizingly patted Li's cheeks with his hands. “I appreciate the gesture, boy, but I'm fine. Not heartbroken. Honest.” 

“Is that true?” Li asked. 

“What happened between me and El... that was a long time ago,” Louis said, flopping back down on the couch next to Li and leaning his head against Li's shoulder. “It's got nothing to do with things right now,” he said, returning his gaze back to the screen, hoping Li would just let go of this bone. 

“O-okay, if you say so,” Li answered, and he seemed to relax in his seat again. 

They watched the movie in silence for a few minutes, and Louis was grateful for the reprieve. 

He wasn't lying. His breakup with El wasn't the reason for his slump. He'd been in this slump long before they broke up; he'd been feeling incomplete, like there was something lacking in his life for longer than he could remember. He didn't know when it started exactly, all he knew was that he thought he was dealing with it well enough that nobody else would ever know about it. 

But El knew. El always knew. 

“Something was missing in her eyes,” Louis mumbled, so softly that he wasn't sure if he was saying the words to Li or to himself. Didn't know if he spoke loud enough to be heard at all. 

Except Li brought his arm around Louis' shoulders again and pulled him closer. “Yeah?” he whispered. 

Louis let out a deep sigh. “I don't know what it was I was even looking for, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see it with El. And she knew that, smart woman. She knew I was broken and whatever piece I needed to make myself whole again wasn't with her,” he confessed. 

This was the first time he was telling someone about this. Not his family, not even the boys. He supposed they must have some idea why they broke up. His mum once told him that sometimes you love a person but you let them go because you know your love wouldn't be enough for them. 

“We couldn't be enough for each other,” he said with another sigh, looking up at Li to see his reaction. 

Li's expression looked like he understood exactly what Louis was going through, but he didn't say anything, and Louis was glad for that. Words of sympathy never did sit well with Louis. 

Instead, Li shifted, ducking his head so he could place a soft kiss on the corner of Louis' mouth. It lasted for no more than a fraction of a second before Li pulled away and turned his attention back to the screen. 

Louis froze, felt his heart stop for a second, before it started beating wildly in his chest. 

That hadn't happened before. Sure they were a bit handsy with each other, a little bit of nipple pinches and slaps and punches to any vulnerable part of their bodies was part of their daily routine. Kisses, however soft or brief, were still off the table until now. 

Louis didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but he was turning his head to stare at Li before he could even stop himself. It was probably nothing, right? Li probably didn't even notice he did it. Li probably didn't think a chaste, little kiss could make Louis' mind go crazy. Li probably-- 

“Why are you the one who's blushing?!” Louis said a little too loudly, jaw dropping in shock. 

“Oh god, sorry,” Li said in embarrassment, hiding his flushed face with one massive hand. “Kinda felt like the only thing to do at that time,” he tried to explain, his voice muffled by his palm. 

“You dolt!” Louis said, reaching for Li's nipple and twisting hard. 

“Ah-hohoooowwww,” Li yowled, hand flying down to cover his chest. “Why do you always resort to vi—” 

He didn't get to finish his sentence because Louis was pulling his head down and crashing their lips together for a real kiss. 

There was a zing right through Louis' spine at the first touch of their lips, and already he couldn't get enough. It took a few seconds when all Li could do was sit there in shock, but Louis must've done something right, because Li got with the program soon enough and was kissing Louis back with all the energy and enthusiasm Louis expected from him. 

And damn, of all the things Louis hated about Li, from his ridiculously gorgeous face and body to his ridiculously adorable personality, he had to add ridiculously good kisser to the list too. He couldn't wait to see what other things he could add to that list. Preferably tonight. 

Louis pulled back for some much needed air, and he couldn't help but smirk at the dazed expression on Li's face. “If you want to go in for a kiss next time, do it right, yeah?” he said, panting. 

“Noted,” Li said before surprising Louis for a second time that night and ducking down to kiss Louis again. Harder. With more tongue and teeth nipping playfully at Louis' bottom lip. 

Kissing Li should be illegal. Feeling like coming in his pants just from kissing Li should be illegal. Louis couldn't believe he was this close to nutting off just from Li's mouth and his tongue. He'd been starved for far too long, living with the object of his desires 24/7 and having nothing but quick wanks in the shower for nearly a month really did a number on Louis. If he didn't get moving soon, he would undoubtedly be embarrassing himself by making a mess in his own pants with no more than the friction of his trousers to do the trick. 

Louis pulling away from Li's mouth was a struggle, but he managed it somehow, his lust-addled brain registering the look of disappointment on Li's face when Louis pushed him away. 

“Relax, just movin' things along,” Louis assured him right before his hands flew to Li's jeans and made quick work of his fly. 

He pulled the band of Li's boxers down and freed Li's cock from its confines, making Li jerk in surprise. 

“Oh—” Louis' breath caught in his throat at the sight of Li's cock, massive and jutting proudly to rest against his taut stomach. He'd seen Li naked countless of times, and his cock looked formidable even when flaccid. He wasn't proud of how many times he imagined what Li would look like aroused, how Li would feel like if he stroked him, or took him in his mouth, or rode him till they both screamed. Oh the things he could do with Li right now. 

He didn't have to imagine any more, and he took Li's length with both hands, stroking him up and down almost reverently, his thumb playing with the slit, spreading the precum over the head. He watched his fingers glisten with it, and he couldn't help himself and brought his thumb to his mouth for a taste, looking up at Li at the same time. He didn't mean to smirk as he licked at his finger, but he did anyway, challenging Li to do something other than sit there with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Like he couldn't believe this was happening either. 

Li looked irked at Louis' smug expression, but it only lasted for a split second before he was surging upward, and Louis let out an indignant yelp as he was pushed rather forcefully to lie on the couch, and suddenly Li was all over him, devouring his mouth, large hands rucking his shirt up to toy with his nipples. 

“Ah— fuck!” Louis jerked, arousal like a current traveling all the way to his toes as Li rolled a nipple between his fingers. 

Li chuckled as he trailed open-mouthed kisses down Louis' neck. “So you do have a nipple kink,” he said, smugly, pushing Louis' shirt all the way up until it was bunched at his armpits, his chest and nipples just peeking from under the fabric. 

“Sh-shut up!” Louis said, bucking up as Li twisted his other nipple. “And to think I was about to give you the best blowjob of your life, arsehole.” 

“Maybe later,” Li answered before he took a nipple in his mouth and Louis swore he saw stars. 

But fuck, he was supposed to be in charge here. He was supposed to be the one to make Li squirm, blush like a virgin, and come embarrassingly quickly with his technique. Not that he was complaining with how Li was worshiping his chest right now, but he needed the attention elsewhere, especially since he was a hair's breadth away from coming in his pants. 

He decided he needed to take things into his own hands— literally. 

He snaked his hands in between them and pushed his joggers and boxers down, just enough to get his cock out and— 

“Fuck!” Li cursed, biting at the flesh around Louis' nipple a little too hard as Louis took both their cocks in his hand and jacked them off together. 

The bite stung like hell, and Louis would've complained, would've warned Li to keep his canines in check lest he bite off his nipple, except it was good, incredibly good, and Louis found himself bucking up at Li, chasing his orgasm that was right there, right at the brink. 

Li started thrusting down at Louis' hips, trapping Louis' hand and their erections between their bellies, until Louis could do nothing but lie there and let the clutch of his fingers and the friction of Li's wild thrusts shove him over the edge. 

“Ah-fuck—ah—Li!” he screamed as he came, his release splattering between their bodies and making obscene sounds with every thrust of Li's hips. 

Li came soon after, eyes shut and mouth falling open in a silent scream, his come coating Louis' fingers and both their cocks. 

He collapsed bonelessly on top of Louis, panting heavily against Louis' neck. 

“That—” Louis began, but closed his mouth again. What was he going to say? That was great? That was the best orgasm he's had in years? That should happen again and again and again? 

“We should've done that ages ago,” Li said, face still buried in Louis' neck. 

“We should make up for lost time then,” Louis replied. 

Li propped himself up with an elbow on the cushion so he could look at Louis face and gave him a sly smile. 

“Why're you grinning like a maniac?” Louis asked, trying to sound irked, but he just sounded fond. 

“You were saying something about the 'best blowjob of my life' earlier?” Li asked. 

Louis gaped. “What? _Now_?” 

Li had the nerve to look sheepish before he thrust down at Louis' hips experimentally. 

Louis hissed at the friction on his still very sensitive cock, but he was more surprised at Li's already half hard cock poking at his hip. 

“Th-that was fast,” Louis remarked. 

Li smirked. “Like you said. We have to make up for lost time.” 

>>>

Ah. He was having this dream again. 

Lying on the grass, tracing stars with his fingers, and humming an unfamiliar song. 

He turned to the person beside him, saw that person's smile, and felt his chest grow tight with emotion. Just being with them set his mind at ease, made him feel warm and content and happy in a way that he'd never realized was possible. He felt, for the first time in a long while, that he was well and truly all right. He realized, in that moment, this was what it felt like to be whole again. 

“What are you thinking about?” the person beside him asked. 

“Hmm? Nothing,” Louis answered, nudging them with an elbow. “Come on, why'd you stop singing?” he asked. 

“Because I thought I lost you there for a second,” they replied, chuckling. “But let's see... where were we? Oh right...” they said, clearing their throat before starting to sing again. “ _I was stumbling, looking in the dark, with an empty heart..”_

In his dream, Louis smiled slowly, listening to this voice singing the words he'd always wanted to put into writing. Vaguely, his mind registered that the voice singing was a man's voice, and it felt familiar somehow. 

“ _But you say, you feel the same... Could we ever be enough?—Oooh!_ ” the person singing added emphatically before bursting into laughter and ruining the song. 

Louis could never remember what this person looked like, in all the times he's had this same dream. But from the start, Louis knew something was different this time around. 

Louis watched in slow motion as the blur of the man's features slowly came into focus— the delicate curl of a lock of hair as it fell against their forehead, the small smattering of freckles right at the corners of his beautiful, brown eyes, the sharp angle of his stubbled jaw and the curve of his cheeks bunched up so high by his wide, wide smile—oh. _Oh._

Louis couldn't breathe. 

The man leaned in closer, staring at Louis with eyes that sparkled with laughter and burned with an intense emotion Louis couldn't even begin to define. “ _Maybe we could be enough?_ ” he said, so softly that Louis didn't know if he was still singing a line from the song, or asking Louis something important, something Louis always wanted to find out for himself. 

The moment their lips touched, color burst behind Louis' eyelids, and he woke with a start, struggling for breath with his heart pounding in his chest and a single name on his lips. 

“Li.” 

>>>>

Louis was in a daze. 

He was sitting in his kitchen with a half eaten muffin in his hand for what seemed like hours already. When he woke up, his mind was already reeling with thoughts about his dream and last night and Li, Li, _Li_. 

He saw Harry had left a paper bag of muffins on his table and decided food would be a good distraction. He barely read the note on the paper bag (it said: 'Headed home. Share some with Li. They're safe for dogs to eat. -H.') before he was picking one out of the bag and heading to the kitchen to fix himself a cuppa. 

But, somewhere along the way, the heavy weight of his thoughts just slowed him down to a halt, and he ended up sat next to the fridge, looking up at his kitchen ceiling and wondering just what all of this could mean. 

He'd been having that same dream for months, even before he and El broke up. It had always been the same dream: an unfamiliar garden, an unfamiliar song, an unfamiliar person. But now the person had a face and a voice and a smile that promised so many things. 

He didn't know what to think about his dream and how it could possibly relate to Li and to what happened the night before. It was possible all the excitement and intense emotions he felt had colored his dream, changed it to fit what Louis currently felt. 

He'd never been a big believer of things like fate or destiny, never believed in the supernatural or the things he couldn't explain with plain logic and a little science. So it was easier to think it was impossible that he'd been dreaming about Li for months already—long before they even met— and just didn't know it was him until last night. Because that would've been crazy. That would've been some next level soul mates, star-crossed lovers shit and just downright weird. 

And yet, weird things have been happening since the moment he hit a dog with his car. So maybe... 

Louis blushed furiously at the thought. “Ahhh my goooooddddd,” he wailed, hiding his face in his hands. That was just too ridiculous. He was thinking about this too much. He needed someone to knock some sense into him. And he knew just who to call. 

>>>>

He retreated into his bedroom so he could talk without the danger of Li overhearing. He didn't want him accidentally finding out that Louis was thinking he might be his soul mate or some other crazy shit. He liked Li, and what they have together is still relatively new, he didn't want to freak him out like that. Heck, he's pretty freaked out about it himself. 

He pulled out his phone to dial a familiar number. He didn't know if Zayn would even pick up since he might not have come out of hiding yet. But they had a studio session the next day, so maybe... 

“Alright, who'd you kill?” 

Louis expected his call to go to voice mail as usual, so it took Louis by surprise when the ringing stopped and Zayn's bored voice rang through his ears. 

Louis let out a huge sigh of relief. “You're back. I can't believe I'm so glad to hear your voice.” 

“Heading back to London tomorrow,” Zayn answered. “So what's this whole emergency thing Harry wouldn't stop texting me about? Said I needed to come straight to your place when I get back.” 

“I can't explain it here. You just— you just have to see it for yourself,” Louis said. 

“Okay. But just so you know, bro, I'm not helping you bury a body. I love you, but I don't fancy getting mud all over my clothes. Plus, I'm not very good with a shovel,” Zayn told him. 

“I'm hurt,” Louis said, chuckling. “But that's not it at all. It's... ah, it's just really hard to explain. I sort of, er, I sort of found somebody?” 

“Y-you found—? That's, wow, that's great Lou!” Zayn said, voice breathless. “How did this happen? Since when? Is it a bloke or a bird? Shit, is that what the emergency is about? Did you get engaged without my knowledge? Is Harry the best man? Because I would never forgive you—” 

“No, no, no. Slow down. It's nothing like that,” Louis explained. 

“Oh, right,” Zayn said, a bit skeptically. “So... this new guy... or girl? Tell me more about 'em.” 

“It's a guy, and uh, he's great. The best. He's adorable and sexy and funny and pretty decent at Fifa—” 

“Decent at Fifa. Sounds like a keeper,” Zayn quipped. 

“—and he's just so fit I wanna punch him in the face whenever he smiles at me.” 

Zayn laughed. “Looks like someone's in love,” he teased. 

Louis sighed resignedly. “I think I _am_ in love, Zee.” he said softly. 

There was silence from the other end of the line, and Louis thought the line went dead for a second, until Zayn spoke again. 

“Whoa... that's... that's serious,” Zayn said, almost in disbelief. Zayn knew Louis never threw the word 'love' around whenever it came to his relationships. Even when he was with El. “That's big, bro.” 

“I know!” Louis said, almost in despair. “He's just so amazing. Harry and Niall loved him. You'll love him too, Zee, once you meet him. He's just—” Louis paused, taking a deep breath. “I don't feel incomplete when I'm with him. He—” Louis felt like he was choking on the words. “He makes me feel like I'm whole again.” 

“Lou...” Zayn whispered, clearly at a loss for words. 

“I don't know what to do anymore. You think I'm being mental? I mean, it's not even a month and I'm this gone for him. I just kissed him for the first time last night, and we sort of fooled around but we didn't even go all the way—” 

“Whoa, whoa, I don't need the details, man. Spare me,” Zayn said in panic. “And I'm not sure what's the problem here, but if you like him as much as you say you do, then that's great, right? Unless he doesn't feel the same way?” 

Louis bit his thumbnail. “I think he likes me too, at least. We haven't really talked about what we are to each other.” 

“Then maybe you should do that. Talk,” Zayn told him. 

“It's not that easy,” Louis said. “He's, uh, he's going through a pretty tough time right now and he's relying on me to help him through it. After this is all over... I don't know if...if he'd still want to be with me when he doesn't need me anymore.” 

“Louis, if he's only there to use you, then he's a dickhead who doesn't deserve to be anywhere near you,” Zayn said. 

“He's not a dickhead,” Louis said weakly. “I don't think he is. I mean, I don't think he'd be the type.” 

“So just talk to him, Lou. Set things straight. If he doesn't like you as much as you like him, then at least you know right? At least you won't be torturing yourself with all the what ifs.” 

“I'm scared if I ask him, I might not like the answer I get...” 

“If he's as amazing as you say he is, then I think you've got nothing to worry about.” 

Louis thought it over for a moment. But what if Li rejected him? What if he said he didn't feel the same way and they were just fooling around? 

Ah, but what if he _did_ feel the same way? What if he wanted exactly what Louis wanted? Just the thought alone made Louis' heart swell in his chest. 

“You're right,” Louis decided. 

“Of course I am,” Zayn said. 

“I'll go talk to him.” 

“Good. Tell me how it goes so I could punch him in the face if you need me to,” Zayn told him. 

“Mmm, you'll find out when you meet him tomorrow,” Louis said. 

>>>>

“You seem weird. You alright?” was the first thing Li asked the moment he transformed that night. 

Louis, as always, handed him his clothes and pretended he was more interested in fluffing up a throw pillow than watching Li get dressed. “What? Weird? In what way?” Louis asked, voice going high pitched. Damn. He used to be a better liar. 

“Well, you're awfully quiet,” Li pointed out. 

“Is that a bad thing? I'm allowed to have my quiet days,” Louis answered. 

“Is it because of last night? Are you regretting it?” Li asked. 

“What? No!” Louis answered, whipping around to look at Li just as Li was pulling up the joggers over his hips. He still didn't have a shirt on, and it was a struggle to look at him and not swoon, or drool, or pounce on him. “Are you?” 

“No,” Li admitted. Then he grinned. “I mean, I don't have my memories but I'd bet that that really _was_ the best blowjob of my life.” 

Louis threw the pillow at Li's head, and he caught it with a deft hand. Damn his reflexes. 

“I could return the favor, if you want. I mean, least I could do,” Li said with no shame. 

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Li, are you trying to get me to sleep with you tonight?” 

Li laughed. “Only if you're up to it.” 

Louis was already half hard in his pants just thinking about it. “Oh I'm up to it, alright.” 

Li beamed, tossing the shirt he was about to put on and walking over to Louis. He held onto Louis' hips and leaned forward to kiss him. 

Louis knew he needed to talk to him. Needed to make sure they were on the same page. Needed to reassure himself that Li wouldn't leave him when this was all over. But ah, crap, he couldn't think straight anymore, not with Li kissing him like that. 

He was panting when they broke apart, and with Li pressed against him like that, he could feel the evidence of his arousal poking his belly. “Bedroom,” Louis whispered. “Now.” 

>>>>

Li wasn't half bad at this, Louis thought, as he shut his eyes and tried not to come from Li's mouth on his cock. Louis just didn't want to look at him while Li swallowed him whole for fear that the visual alone would make him come a little too soon. He wanted this to last longer. He had plans. He wanted to make Li scream— 

“Oh fuck!” Louis' whole body jolted. His eyes flew open and he looked down at Li, who's still got the head of Louis' cock in his mouth, but this time, had a curious finger teasing at Louis' hole. 

Li let Louis' cock fall from his mouth, and he tilted his head to the side. “You don't like it?” he asked, even as he continued to circle his finger around Louis' hole. 

“Stop teasing,” he said with a scowl. 

Li's face fell. “Sorry,” he said, withdrawing his finger. 

“Lube's in the drawer. Do it _properly,_ ” Louis ordered. 

Brown eyes went wide in surprise before Li was full on laughing. “So grumpy,” he remarked as he leaned forward to kiss the scowl off of Louis' face before he reached to the side to rummage through Louis' drawer. 

Louis took his fill of Li's naked body while he stretched to get to the side table. He watched with hooded eyes as Li's hard cock bobbed with every little movement Li made and he decided he wanted more than Li's fingers. He wanted everything. “There're condoms there too, while you're at it.” 

Li faltered, nearly falling off the side of the bed. He looked back at Louis with wide eyes. “You-you sure?” he asked. 

Louis propped his body up with an elbow and reached forward to hold Li's cock firmly at the base. “I'm sure. Want you. _Now_ ,” he said, stroking up and down, making Li shudder. 

“Right, right,” Li mumbled, fumbling around in the drawer almost frantically until he finally located the lube and condoms. 

Louis watched with great amusement as Li's hands struggled with the lid of the bottle of lube, clearly flustered. He finally popped the lid open and squeezed a little too much onto his fingers, some of the lube dripping on to the sheets, and he pouted and cursed. Louis snickered. 

“Don't laugh at me,” Li said with a pout. “I'm a bit nervous, alright?” 

Louis continued to laugh at Li's expense. “Relax. I'm not expecting much,” he joked, then laughed again at the affronted look on Li's face. 

“Oh that's how it is, huh?” Li said, eyes sparkling with the challenge. 

“Ah!” Louis gasped when Li's fingers found his hole again. 

Li played with his rim, teasing and circling until he finally pushed a finger inside. He twisted his finger like he was mapping Louis' insides, and shit, he was _good_. Then he crooked his finger just right, and Louis' back arched off the bed. Fuck, he was _too_ good. Maybe Louis shouldn't have teased him too much. 

After a few moments, Li inserted a second finger and took his cock back in his mouth, and Louis was seeing stars. If this was how Li wanted to prove him wrong, well, who was Louis to tell him 'no'? 

Soon, Louis was reduced to a babbling, writhing mess, with Li three fingers in him and his mouth sucking Louis' soul out of his cock. “Stop, please, god, ah, just stop,” Louis pleaded, hands going down to push Li away from his cock. 

Li obeyed, letting go of Louis' cock and looking up at him with eyes that burned with so much hunger, it was a miracle Louis didn't come just from that look alone. 

“I-I'm ready, so...” Louis. 

“Got it,” Li said with a nod, slowly withdrawing his fingers from Louis' hole. 

Instantly, Louis craved for Li's fingers filling him up again, and his hole clenched at thin air. He didn't realize his legs were trembling until Li laid a large hand on his thigh. “Turn around,” Li told him. “Hands and knees.” 

Louis wanted to face him while they did it, but he didn't have it in him to protest anymore. He just wanted Li in him, any way he could. So he obeyed and turned around until he was lying on his front. He let Li pull him up by his hips until his ass was in the air and he was on all fours. As he heard Li tear through the condom packet, he thought of making a joke about Li's preference of doing it doggy style, but all his higher brain functions ceased to exist the moment he felt the head of Li's cock nudging at his hole. 

He wasn't pushing in, just letting the tip of his cock rest against Louis' hole. Louis' rim fluttered, hole mouthing hungrily at Li's cock. He knew he was desperate for it, and this teasing was driving him mad. 

“Look at you,” Li whispered reverently, his large hands coming up to spread Louis' cheeks apart and his thumb tracing Louis' hole as it clenched and unclenched trying to somehow get Li's cock inside. 

“Just do it already!” Louis demanded, and the words were barely out of his mouth before Li was obeying, pushing his cock in until Louis' hole gave and swallowed him whole. He pushed in, in, in, until his hips were flush against Louis' ass— and Louis forgot how to breathe. 

Before Louis could even adjust to the girth of Li's cock stretching him wide and almost to his limit, Li was pulling out slowly, only to snap his hips back. 

“Ah, ah, ah, fuck,” Louis babbled, trying to keep himself up with his hands as Li found his rhythm and started pounding into him with long, powerful strokes. 

“You feel, ah, feel amazing, Lou,” Li said breathlessly. 

It was too much, all too much, and Louis' arms buckled underneath him and he collapsed on to the bed, his ass still up in the air, held in place by Li's hands on his hips. 

Li's thrusts never once faltered, and with the new angle, he was hitting Louis' prostate with scary accuracy, and Louis' babbling escalated to loud, tortured groans of pleasure. 

Then Li's hand reached down to take a hold of Louis' cock, stroking him along with his thrusts, and that was it, Louis was gone. His orgasm wracked through his whole body, fire flowing through his veins and consuming him until he was screaming, coming so hard his vision faded to nothing but white static. 

>>>>

When Louis came to, he was lying on his side with Li spooned behind him. 

“Lost you there for a sec,” Li said, pulling him even closer until Li's nose was buried at the short hairs on his nape. 

“Mm, that's 'cause you fuck like there's no tomorrow,” Louis said, wincing when he tried to twist his hips. “I'm not gonna be able to walk properly for days.” 

“Sorry,” Li mumbled against Louis' skin. “I'll hold back next time.” 

Louis elbowed Li's stomach, making him grunt in pain. “Don't hold back. I liked it,” Louis told him. 

Li chuckled, rubbing the sore spot where Louis elbowed him before he snaked his arms around Louis to hug him. “All right. Anything else I should know about?” 

Louis bit his lip. This was it. The perfect opportunity for them to talk. “What do _you_ like?” Louis asked instead. 

“I like cuddles,” Li answered without hesitation. 

“I can see that,” Louis said with a scoff, trying to keep his voice light, even as his earlier worries started slowly filtering back into his mind. 

They fell silent for a moment, and Louis thought Li had fallen asleep behind him, until Li playfully bit the side of Louis' neck. “Ow! What was that for?” Louis yowled. 

“I can hear you thinking. It's bothering me,” Li said, and even without looking Louis could tell he was pouting like the petulant kid that he was. 

“Jeez, all this biting. I still have teeth marks on my chest from yesterday, you know,” Louis complained. 

“Well, I _am_ part dog,” Li answered. 

“Is this considered bestiality then?” Louis joked. 

Li choked on his own tongue. “Oh— _oh my god_ , you're impossible!” Li managed to get out as his whole body shook with laughter, squeezing Louis' torso as if he needed an anchor to stop himself from floating up to the ceiling. 

“What? It's a valid question,” Louis said, chuckling himself. 

“Come on, be serious for a moment,” Li said as his laughter slowly died down. “I wanna know what's troubling you today. Will you tell me what were you thinking about?” 

Louis smile faded and he let out a long sigh. With Li being all sincere like that, he couldn't find it in him to keep on swerving the topic. Not when it was something this important. “What do you plan to do when you get back to normal?” Louis began. “When you're human again and you have your memories back?” 

“You were thinking about this?” Li asked, clearly taken aback. “Alright, uh...” Li said, scratching his head. “First thing I guess would be to go back to my family. They're probably worried sick.” 

Louis nodded. He didn't expect any less from Li. 

“Maybe get my life back on track again. Go back to my old job, if I still have one. Just try to live my life the way I would've if this didn't happen. I think I'd enjoy waking up in the morning and not having fur for a change,” he said, chuckling. 

Louis tried to smile but came up short. “You think...uh, you think there's a place for me there? In your life... after all of this is over?” he said softly, heart beating in his throat. 

“Oh Lou...” 

Louis shut his eyes and clenched his fists in front of him. He didn't know what that tone in Li's voice meant, but he was suddenly too scared to find out. 

Li shifted behind him, moving away and withdrawing his arms from where they were circled around Louis, and Louis suddenly felt cold all over. 

“I may not know what my life was like before I came here or how it's going to be like after,” Li began, voice suddenly coming from above Louis. 

Louis opened his eyes and looked up to see Li leaning over him, face inches from Louis'. 

“But what I do know is that right now, the only thing that's making this cursed life bearable, is that I get to spend my nights with you,” Li said. “I'd count myself lucky if I get to spend my days with you as well.” 

“Yeah?” Louis asked, hope bubbling up in his chest and making him feel high as a kite. 

“Yeah. Even if you do get bossy and violent sometimes... and you cheat at Fifa,” Li said, chuckling when Louis glared at him and tried to push him away, albeit halfheartedly. 

“Way to ruin it, hotshot,” Louis grumbled, but there was no heat in his words. He was still elated at Li's response. Li knew exactly what to say to make a boy blush. 

“It's okay. I like you even if you're abusive and a sore loser,” Li said, leaning forward to give Louis a slow, languid kiss that made Louis cling to him for dear life. They parted after a few seconds of toe-curling pleasure, and Li collapsed back beside Louis, arms encircling him again from behind so they could return to cuddling. 

“Mmm... and I like you even if you're a terrible kisser and you smell like a dog,” was Louis reply. 

Li buried his nose at Louis' neck and mumbled, “Lies, all lies,” before drifting off to sleep. 

Louis fell asleep soon after, a small smile on his face and a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest. He had Li now, and he wouldn't lose Li when this was all over. That was all he needed to know. 

>>>>


	8. Chapter 8

Being in the studio felt like coming home. Surrounded by his favorite things: music sheets and instruments and mixing boards and his friends, he always felt a sort of magic in this place. He couldn't wait to bring Li here. 

He could just imagine how happy Li would be to see the studio. No doubt he'd be running around, bouncing like an overexcited puppy and checking out every single instrument and gadget they had lying around. There was a high possibility he'd break something in his hyperactive state and Louis was already wondering how he could worm his way out of paying for the damaged sound equipment. 

“Tommo, Are you listening?” Julian asked. 

“Hmm?” Louis asked. “Oh, you were saying something about Zayn being late again? He's always late you know? I don't understand why you're surprised anymore.” 

Jamie just shook his head, chuckling. “We were done with that conversation ten minutes ago. You sure you're with us right now?” 

“He'd probably rather be at home,” Niall quipped. “Playing with his dog,” he added, a mischievous glint in his eyes. The kid just knew too much. 

“Ignore him,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. “Sorry, just lacking sleep these days. What were we talking about then?” Louis asked. 

“I asked if you've listened to the new arrangements we made to a few of the finished songs. I sent it to everyone's emails last week,” Julian told him. 

“Oh, uh, no, sorry,” Louis said, offering a guilty smile. “Haven't checked my email in days. Been a bit busy,” he said. 

“Had a feeling you didn't,” Julian said, keying up the songs on the computer. “You'd typically reply to my emails with your own tweaks to the song,” he said, pressing play. 

They listened to the songs one after the other, taking pauses in between to voice out their thoughts and offer suggestions for the arrangements. 

At some point, Harry got into a serious discussion with Julian and Jamie about adding trumpets to one of the songs he wrote, and Louis busied himself by tinkering with the computer, playing songs at random. 

He came across a folder of old demos that Julian and Jamie did with other artists, and saw a familiar title among the list of songs. “Hey, have you got an arrangement yet for Through the Dark?” he asked. 

“It's still in the works,” Jamie told him distractedly before he turned back to Harry and his convincing argument about the benefit of trumpets. 

“Huh,” Louis said, clicking on the file so he could have a listen again. He remembered the feeling he had listening to this song the first time around, and he wanted to see if it was as good as he remembered. 

The sound of the guitar rang through the speakers, and Louis could already feel the smile forming on his face. It still sounded— 

“ _You tell me that you're sad and lost your way, you tell me that your tears are here to stay, but I know you were only hiding, and I just want to see you...”_

Louis felt his heart stop and goosebumps erupt all over his skin. 

“ _You tell me that you're hurt and you're in pain, and I can see your head is held in shame, but I just want to see you smile again, see you smile again...”_

It was like the world stopped turning at that moment, and all that existed in Louis' mind was that voice singing words that pierced straight through Louis' soul, that voice that he had come to know so well in such a short time. That voice that sang Louis' songs, that voice that laughed at Louis' jokes, that voice that whispered Louis' name so lovingly just last night. 

It was Li's voice. 

“Lads... who's the one singing this?” Louis asked, finding it a struggle for his throat to work properly. 

“Oh, that's Liam Payne, I've mentioned him before,” Julian answered. 

“Liam Payne,” Louis tested the name on his tongue. “Li... Liam Payne.” 

“Uh-huh. He's one of the new singers the label signed this year. Good ear for music, great songwriter too. You said you wanted to meet him, right? So I told you he'd meet with you when you came back from tour. Do you remember? You didn't show up for the meeting,” Julian reminded him. 

“I-I remember,” Louis said, forcing himself to stay calm. 

“Well, Liam didn't show up too,” Jamie chimed in, tone somber. “I mean, how could he...” 

“Oh, right,” Julian's face fell. “I forgot that was the day of the accident, too. Poor kid,” Julian said, shaking his head. 

“Accident?” Louis asked, voice weak and scared. Damn, his hands were starting to shake. 

“Louis?” Harry asked, turning to him with a concerned expression on his face. Even Niall looked up from his guitar to look at Louis' shocked face with worry. 

“I left for LA the day after so I didn't find out about it until days later,” Julian explained. “I heard he saved a dog from getting run over by a car that morning. The dog was safe, but he got hit instead. Modern-day hero, that guy.” 

Louis felt all the color drain from his face. Just the thought of his Li— his _Liam_ getting hit by a car was unthinkable. 

“W-where is he now?” Louis asked. 

“I'm not sure. Last I heard he was still in Intensive Care, but that was a couple of weeks ago. I don't know what's happened to him since. Poor kid. He had so much potential, you know? First met him at the label office when he was just signed—” 

Louis didn't wait for Julian to finish, he was rushing out the door, his thoughts running wild and all he could think about was Li. Li diving in front of a car to save a dog. Li in a hospital somewhere, looking deathly pale. Li barely holding on to the last threads of his life. 

It was too horrible to even think about, and he shook his head as he drove back to his flat at full speed, the dying light of the setting sun guiding his way back to Li. 

>>>>

“Well, you're back early—” Li said the moment Louis burst through the door. 

“Liam Payne,” Louis said, out of breath. 

“What?” Li asked, running his hands over the creases of the shirt he just put on before he looked up and gave Louis a confused expression. “What's this about?” 

“That's your name, Liam Payne,” Louis declared. “You're Liam Payne.” 

Li looked at Louis with wide eyes. “Liam... Payne,” Li said tentatively. “How'd you—” 

“You're a bloody fantastic singer and a songwriter and I've heard your voice before, I just didn't connect it at first...” Louis was panicking, pacing through the living room, hands gesturing wildly about him. 

“Whoa, hey, okay...” Li said, blocking Louis' path and holding Louis by the arms so he could guide him to sit on the couch with him. “This is great news, right?” Li reassured him. “I mean, we know who I am now. We can find out what happened to me and how I can get back to—” 

“You saved a dog!” Louis blurted out, as if he was terribly annoyed with Li. “You saved a bloody dog from getting hit by a car.” 

“Oh,” Li just said, looking lost and unsure and still unable to believe everything he'd just heard. 

“Who does that? I mean come on, Li, who throws themselves in front of a moving vehicle to save dogs nowadays?” Louis went on. He looked livid. 

“I do, apparently,” Li says with a strained smile. 

Louis instantly deflated at Li's words, all the anger and the frustration suddenly draining him of his energy. “So what do we do now?” he said after a short while. 

“Uh... I guess, we could start by finding out who Liam Payne is,” he said, pointing to Louis' laptop sitting on the table. 

>>>>

They had the laptop open on Louis' lap, with Google on the browser and the cursor on the empty search bar when Louis asked, “Are you sure you want to find out?” 

He didn't know what made him ask. Of course Li would want to know about his life. About how Liam Payne lived his life. It was the only way they could get any answers. But still, it made him nervous, because this might be it. This might be the beginning of the end. He might lose Li after all. 

“Now that it's here? I'm not so sure. I'm kind of scared,” Li said with a nervous chuckle, rubbing his hands nervously on his jeans. “Like, what if I don't like who Liam turns out to be? Or what if I do like who he is, but I might never return to being him. I might not be the same when I come back, if I do come back.” 

Louis was instantly filled with guilt at his thoughts. He was being selfish again, thinking about how he'd feel when Li eventually went back to his old life. He didn't realize how difficult this was on Li. Finding out about a life he once led, and dealing with what he lost and what he might never get back again. 

“You'll get back to your old life,” Louis finally said, slowly typing 'Liam Payne' on the search bar. “And you'll love who you turn out to be. I know you will,” he reassured him, before finally entering the search. 

They both held their breath for the split second it took to load the results on the page. 

The first thing that came up was a short article from a local Wolverhampton site about the accident, how it happened in London at the early hours of the morning, just before sunrise, Liam diving into the road to save the stray dog from a speeding car. To the side, there was a small picture of a much younger Liam, hair straightened and swept to the side and smiling so blindingly bright, it was hard for Louis to even look at it. 

“Wow,” Li said, breathlessly. “So that _is_ me. I'm Liam Payne.” 

“Yeah...” Louis didn't know how to react in the face of further proof of Li's identity. 

“That picture— I look so young! It's weird, I don't even remember being that young,” Li said. 

“It might be a good thing you don't remember, look at your hair. It's embarrassing,” Louis joked, trying to lighten the mood. 

Li chuckled. “I saw your old pictures in the guest room, Lou. You're one to talk,” he replied. “Plus, I think I look smart.” 

Louis scoffed. “Smart. Right,” he said as they started to look at the other search results. 

They clicked through couple of short articles about the accident that provided no other additional information about Liam or where he was right now. If he was still in the hospital or— 

“I'm not dead, am I?” Li said, putting into words what Louis had been thinking about this whole time. 

“Well, we haven't found your obituary yet,” Louis joked. 

Li laughed uncomfortably. “Not funny.” 

Louis cringed. “Sorry. It was a little funny.” 

“Alright,” Li said, eyes crinkling. “A little.” 

>>>>

After a few more minutes, they stumbled across pictures of Liam with his family and his friends. There was even a short clip on Youtube of Liam singing Wonderwall at some event in Wolverhampton, and as the video went on, Li's face started to get very serious. 

“It feels really weird... that's me, but I don't remember it. Any of it,” Li said. 

Towards the end of the video, a man and a woman hugged Liam and Louis watched Li's eyes start to get glossy with unshed tears. “Those are my parents. I kept seeing their faces in my mind, and they're real...” he said, finally letting a few tears slip down his cheeks. 

And at that moment, Louis realized just how selfish he had been all this time. How could he be sad that Li might be leaving him, when there were no doubt so many people missing Liam and wishing he'd get better. When Li himself was missing his old life. 

He curled an arm around Li's shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. “We'll get you back to your family. I don't know how, but we'll get you back,” Louis promised. 

Just a heartbeat after Louis said those words, the doorbell rang and both Louis and Li looked up just in time for Harry and Niall to burst in the door, keys dangling in Harry's fingers. 

Li extricated himself from Louis' embrace and tried to discreetly wipe the tears from his face. 

“Oh thank goodness you're here,” Harry said in relief. 

Louis frowned. “Where else would I be?” 

“You weren't answering your phone so—” Harry said, shrugging. 

“You rushed out of the studio so quickly, we didn't know what got you so upset,” Niall explained. “We tried to finish as much as we can without you but Jamie and Julian said we'll just reschedule some time.” 

“That's good. Uh, I'll give them a call to apologize,” Louis said, closing the laptop and setting it on the table. 

Harry looked at Li then at Louis with a silent question. 

“Louis found out my true identity,” Li declared out of the blue. 

Niall's jaw dropped. “Whoa, for real?” 

Harry dug his hands in his pockets. “We heard. Liam Payne?” he ventured. 

Niall looked at Harry like he was betrayed. “You knew? Why didn't you tell me? Oh, oh wait. Fuck, you were the one Jamie and Julian were talking about! The one who saved the dog.” 

Louis nodded. “That's him alright,” he confirmed. 

“So, what now?” Harry asked. 

Li bit his lip. “I'm not sure. I know I'm supposed to be Liam, but I don't remember how to be him.” 

Before anyone could offer a reply to Li's words, a voice echoed through the hallway. 

“Louis? Why's your door wide open?” someone called out. 

“Zayn?” Louis said in surprise. 

“Yeah, mate. Sorry I'm late. Had to go somewhere important,” Zayn said, making his way into the living room as he removed his coat. He looked somber and tired from traveling, eyes red and bags under his eyes. “Was on my way to the studio when Julian called me, said we'd reschedule 'cause everyone ran off—” he was saying when he finally looked up, tired eyes immediately falling on Li. 

His car keys slipped from his fingers and they clattered to the floor as he stared at Li like he'd just seen a ghost. “Liam?!” 

Shocked silence filled the room. “Oh fuck, I must be more exhausted than I thought. I'm hallucinating,” Zayn said, rubbing his eyes with his hands. 

“Wait, you know me?” Li asked. 

Zayn looked at Louis, then the other two, mouth dropping open in shock. “Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing him,” he said, tilting his head toward Li. 

“You're not,” Harry said slowly. “That's Li.” 

“Liam,” Louis corrected. “His name is Liam.” 

Zayn's eyes grew impossibly wide as he turned to look back at Li. “Liam?” he said in disbelief. 

“Uh, yeah?” was Li's reply. 

In the blink of an eye, Zayn was rushing past Harry and Niall and diving onto the couch, hugging Li so hard, he knocked the breath right out of Li's lungs. Louis even had to get out of the way lest he be crushed by the combined weight of Li and Zayn. 

Soon, Zayn was sobbing into Li's shoulder and Li just sat there awkwardly, patting Zayn's back to comfort him somehow. 

“So you know who Liam is?” Louis asked. 

“Do I know— of course I know!” Zayn said, pulling away from Li to give Louis an affronted look. “That's Liam! He's my mate. I've known him for years. He's the guy I've been telling you about. You know? The one I was setting you up on a blind date with that you never showed up on?” 

“What?” “What?!” Louis and Li both said in disbelief. 

“No way,” Louis said breathlessly. 

“Yeah, no way. It's impossible. I know,” Zayn said, wiping his running nose with the back of his hand. “How did this happen? Why are you here? I was just at the hospital visiting you hours ago.” 

Li perked up. “I'm still at the hospital?” 

Zayn nodded. “Why is he here? Why are you here? Are you alright?” 

“He's fi—” Louis was saying, but he stopped himself. “He's not fine. He's er...” 

“Spit it out, Tommo,” Zayn said. 

“Er... do you want to tell him or should I?” Louis asked Li. 

“I think you should. I don't know how to explain it, really,” Li said, looking bashful and vulnerable at the same time. 

“Right,” Louis said, taking a deep breath. “See, here, Zayn, Li—Liam has a problem. He's, uh, he's not really here. Completely. He turns into a dog when the sun rises, and turns back into himself at night,” Louis tried to explain. 

Everyone waited with baited breath for Zayn's reaction. 

Then Zayn glared at Louis. “Fuck you man. This is no time to be joking. Are you high or summat?” 

Louis leveled Zayn with a withering stare. “You think I'm making this up?” 

“It's true, Zayn, I've seen it for myself,” Harry told him. 

“One minute he's a dog and the next he's human and naked. It's wicked,” Niall added. 

Zayn looked less furious and just mostly confused as he looked at each of their faces and realized they weren't pulling his leg. 

“I don't remember anything so we've been trying to figure out a way to find out who I am and how to turn me human permanently,” Li explained. 

Zayn turned to Li and stared hard at his face before he shook his head, “This doesn't make any sense. If you're here, then who's the person lying in a coma at the hospital? There can't be two of you at the same time.” 

“And yet, here we are,” Louis said. 

The room fell silent for a moment, the gravity of the situation sinking in for everyone. 

“We should visit Liam,” Niall suddenly declared. 

Louis looked at him like he'd grown another head. 

“What? Zayn said he's still in the hospital. Maybe if you and your _other_ you can meet, maybe you'll, I don't know, merge back together again?” he suggested, slapping his hands together like it'd be that easy. 

Louis considered it for a moment, then shrugged. “Worth a shot,” he said. 

“Right. Let's go to the hospital,” Li said. “I wanna see for myself.” 

>>>>

Getting inside a hospital room after visiting hours was easier than Louis thought. The nurses refused at first, but after a good dose of Harry's dimpled smile and Niall's charms, they were finally allowed in for a few minutes. 

Louis didn't know what to expect, and as they walked the quiet hospital halls, he looked at Li walking beside him to see how he was holding up. Li wore one of Louis' beanies over his head and a surgical mask to hide his face, but even then, Louis could tell he wasn't fine. He reached for Li's hand dangling between them and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

Li turned to face him, his shoulders seemingly relaxing for a moment, and he squeezed back. They kept their fingers tangled against each other as they walked, only breaking apart once they entered the room. 

>>>>

It was a heartbreaking sight. Li— no, _Liam—_ was there lying on the hospital bed, monitors beeping by his bedside. He had Li's face but still looked like a total stranger, an empty shell, the warmth and life that seemed to ooze from Li's every pore absent from his sleeping features. He looked thin and deathly pale, his head shaved from surgery on what looked like a serious head wound on his forehead. His right arm was held in place by a sling and cast and Louis felt a chill run down his spine because he looked like he was injured at the exact places where Dog Li was injured too. 

“So it _is_ real. There's two of me,” Li said, releasing the breath he'd been holding this whole time. 

Louis nodded. “He has identical injuries as you, too,” he pointed out, glancing at the fading scar on Li's forehead as well as Li's right arm, which he was now rubbing self-consciously with his other hand. 

“Does this mean he feels what I feel?” Li asked, stepping towards the bed. 

Louis followed him until they were stood at Liam's bedside. “Do you want to try it?” 

“I wonder....” Li whispered, lost in thought. 

Louis sucked in a nervous breath as he watched Li reach a hand out to touch Liam's pale arm. He didn't know what was going to happen. Maybe nothing would happen and it would just be like poking a stranger's arm. Or maybe, the universe would realize the glitch in the system and reset itself. Li'd suddenly merge with himself again, just like Niall said, and everything would be fine. 

At the corner of the room, Niall was biting his nails and Harry had his hands clutched nervously behind his back. Zayn, meanwhile, had stepped next to the bed, and almost protectively watched over Liam as Li reached out to him. 

Li paused, fingers hovering inches from Liam's skin. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and closed the distance in one move. 

Then... nothing. 

“Huh?” Li asked, cracking his eyes open to see what had gone wrong and he saw his fingers going straight through Liam's arm like he was some sort of ghost. 

He gasped, withdrawing his hand like it'd burned, and he turned to look at Louis then at the other boys. All of them had identical looks of shock. 

He turned back to Liam and reached a hand out again, this time to touch his cheek. Once again his fingers passed through Liam's skin like he was touching a hologram. Or he was the hologram instead. He waved his fingers about and his whole hand went through Liam's face. He looked back at Louis in disbelief. “Am I a ghost now?” 

“A ghost? Don't be ridiculous,” he said, punching Li's arm to prove a point. His punch connected, and Li winced in pain. “You felt that, didn't you?” 

“Yeah but that hurt,” he said, gingerly rubbing the spot Louis hit. 

“Does that mean this guy's the ghost?” Niall asked, finding his way to Liam's bedside next to Zayn. 

“Don't be daft, Liam's not a ghost,” Zayn said, reaching down and giving one of Liam's fingers a gentle pull. “See?” 

“Oh, he's solid,” Niall observed, scrunching his face like he was deeply confused. 

“Did you feel that?” Louis asked Li. 

Li looked down at his hand, at the finger Zayn pulled. “No. Didn't feel a thing,” he said, sounding disappointed. “It's like I'm not even connected to this other me at all,” he said, looking at Liam's face and making an expression like he was hurt, like looking at this version of him gave him physical pain. 

Louis felt his heart break a little more. They had so much hope that reuniting Li and Liam might solve their problems, but somehow, it only made things a bit more complicated. Li was real, and so was Liam. Did that mean that they were separated for good? Two sides of the same person, one cursed to live half a life, and the other barely even holding on to life. What kind of an existence was that? 

“He's you, though,” Louis told Li. “You may not feel connected to him, but he's half of you, and he needs you to come back to him, one way or another,” Louis said, reaching out a hand to trace the lifeline on Liam's palm lying open on his side, the same lifeline that ran through Li's palm. 

Li shuddered beside him, letting out a startled gasp, and Louis jolted, withdrawing his fingers immediately. 

“No wait!” Li said, grabbing Louis' wrist. “Do that again.” 

“You felt that?” Zayn said, alarmed. 

Louis gulped nervously before he reached out and held Liam's hand, giving it a squeeze. 

Li shuddered again, but this time he gasped in amazement, bringing his palm up to his face as his skin tingled from the contact. “I felt that. I felt that!” he said, laughter bubbling up from his throat. 

Li's joy was infectious, and Louis grinned and squeezed Liam's hand tighter. 

“Lemme try!” Niall said, giving Liam's arm a couple of pokes. 

“That's weird,” Li said, frowning. 

“Nothing?” Niall asked. 

Li shook his head. “Why can't I feel that... but I felt you?” he said, turning to Louis in confusion. 

Louis opened his mouth to offer an explanation, but found that he couldn't come up with anything. “I-I don't—” 

“It's pretty simple, isn't it?” Harry said, finally choosing to join them by the bedside after quietly observing everything from across the room. “Louis is your anchor,” he said with a wide smile, like he'd just realized something earth-shattering. 

“What are you on about?” Louis asked in confusion. 

“Louis, you're the one keeping Li connected to this version of him. It was obvious you two were meant to meet. Think about it,” Harry told them, talking a little faster in his excitement. “All the times you almost met but didn't, the universe probably got tired of your shit and decided that not even an accident, or being a four-legged fur ball, can stop you two from seeing each other.” 

Everyone fell silent, seemingly trying to digest Harry's ludicrous suggestion, until Li started giggling, and soon Louis was giggling as well, and everybody in the room was laughing save for Harry. 

“What?” Harry asked, looking insulted. 

“That's ridiculous!” Zayn remarked. “The universe is fucked up if it thinks this is the best way to get these two idiots together.” 

“Are you sure you didn't read that from one of your mum's romance novels?” Niall joked. 

Harry pouted. “It's the most logical explanation. And some of those romance novels are very compelling and well written, okay?” 

“It's a pretty good theory, Harry. Thanks,” Li said with a smile. He turned to Louis, nudging his shoulder against his. “I like the idea of you as my anchor. You've certainly never let me get lost at sea this whole time I was with you,” he said. 

Louis desperately tried not to blush at Li's words, but he was fighting a losing battle. He realized he was still holding on to Liam's hand and released it before he turned around to hide how flustered he'd become. “Still doesn't give us any more answers,” Louis said. 

Li let out a sigh. “That's true,” he said. 

“So what now?” Niall asked, returning to biting his nails. 

Silence overtook the room again as the mood turned somber. 

Louis turned his attention to the bedside table where a flower vase and several picture frames sat. There was one of Liam dressed as Batman, another one of him standing on a small stage and singing, another of a chubby toddler Liam wearing a cowboy hat, and another of Liam surrounded by his family at a beach vacation, their laughing faces as bright as the summer sun. All reminders of the life Li left behind, the life he needed to get back to. 

“I think I'd like to be left alone with myself for a while, if that's alright?” Li said, breaking the silence. 

Louis understood Li needed time alone. This whole ordeal was by far the hardest for him. But still, Louis hesitated to leave his side, fearing Li might need his help, fearing Li might disappear when he wasn't looking. 

In the end, he just settled for getting a coffee at the vending machine while they waited for Li outside. He watched as Niall and Harry talked to the nurses at the Nurses Station, trying to convince them to allow Li to stay in the room for a little while longer. He cringed when he finally took a sip of the watered down coffee. 

Zayn collapsed onto the seat next to him, letting out a tired sigh. “This whole day's been crazy, bro.” 

“Imagine a whole month of that,” Louis quipped. 

“So Liam's been with you all this time?” Zayn asked. 

Louis nodded. “Since the day I hit his dog self with my car. Which is the same day Li got hit by a car, too, now that I think about it.” 

“If you _really_ think about it, none of the things that happened were coincidences,” Zayn said. 

Louis frowned down at his coffee cup. “What are you saying, Zayn?” 

“All I'm saying is, we laughed at Harry's theory, but in hindsight, he might not be that far from the truth,” Zayn said. 

Louis didn't know what to reply to that, so he just kept silent, sipping on his coffee and mulling over Harry's words from earlier. 

“On the phone, when you called me up to tell me about this person you met... that was Liam, wasn't it?” Zayn guessed. 

Louis nodded. 

“You said you think you're in love with him. You said he makes you feel whole again...” 

Louis chuckled. “I can't believe you remembered my exact words,” he said, punching Zayn in the arm. 

“Of course it's not everyday my best mate tells me he's in love,” Zayn said, answering Louis' punch with a shove of his own. 

Louis yelped, barely able to keep the scalding coffee in the cup. “Ayyy, watch it!” 

“Sorry,” Zayn said, looking the least bit apologetic. “But it's true then? What you said about Liam?” 

Louis let out a heavy sigh. “I still had my doubts when I talked to you, but it's clear to me now,” he said, leaning against Zayn and burying his head against Zayn's shoulder. “What am I going to do, Zayn? I'm in love with Li,” he confessed. 

Zayn let out a sigh of his own before he gave Louis a hug. They stayed like that until Harry and Niall returned, along with a stern looking nurse that told them, in no simpler terms, that it was time for them to leave. 

>>>>

On the car ride back to Louis' flat, Li cradled the picture frame of his family on his lap, running his fingers down the glass wistfully. He had stolen the picture frame from the bedside, claiming that he just couldn't put the picture down. Nobody had the heart to tell him to put it back. 

“I wonder how they're doing,” he said with a sigh. 

“They're coping,” Zayn answered. “They're strong, like you. Ruth and Nicola are back in Wolverhampton for the week. Your mum and dad are staying at your flat here in London. Do you remember them?” 

“Bits and pieces,” Li answered, sadly. “I wish I could see them. I can't remember them completely, but I suppose it'd be nice to find out what they're like.” 

“So let's go visit them,” Louis suggested. 

Li tried to smile, but faltered midway. “Ah, it's impossible, innit? They'll freak out if they see me.” 

“So we'll go in the morning,” Louis said. “I don't think they'd mind if I bring my dog, yeah?” he said, turning to Zayn for confirmation. 

Zayn shrugged. “They're fond of dogs. Liam's got a dog back in Wolverhampton too...” 

“There you go,” Louis said. “You could meet your parents and, hey, maybe you'll remember more of your past this way.” 

Li seemed to think it over for a moment, eyes never leaving the picture frame on his lap. Then he sighed, finally coming to a decision. “I wanna see them even if I can't remember them and I'm not gonna lie, that makes me pretty nervous,” he said, letting out an uneasy chuckle as he rubbed his hands up and down his lap to calm himself. “But I don't think I could go another day without seeing my family, not when I know they're so close.” 

Louis smiled. “In the morning then?” 

“In the morning,” Li said with a determined nod. 

>>>>

Louis was convinced that meeting Liam's parents would help Li remember, and maybe, they'd get closer to finding a way to bring him back. In the end, it only made things worse. 

The whole time they were there, Dog Li looked like he was going to cry. He looked at Geoff and Karen Payne like he missed them terribly, like being in the same room as them and not being able to talk to them, or come up to them and hug them, was the worst torture imaginable. And maybe it was. Especially when Karen's brave face faltered and tears started to fall down her face, and Dog Li tried to comfort her by nudging his nose against her leg and cuddling close to her. Karen thanked the dog and patted him on the head, remarking how sweet he was with her. It was far from enough though. 

“The doctor talked to us yesterday,” Geoff said the moment Karen went into the kitchen to fix them some more tea, like he didn't want to talk about this with her in the room, and immediately Louis could tell it wasn't good. “It was right after you left, Zayn,” he continued. 

Zayn's stiffened in his seat, face going serious, like he too was expecting something bad, and Louis gave him a concerned look. 

“We haven't even told Ruth and Nicola yet...” Geoff went on, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Haven't told them what?” Zayn asked, weakly. 

“Liam's vitals...” he said, shaking his head. “The doctor said he's not improving. Said if this drags on any further, then we need to consider the possibility of taking Liam out of life support.” 

“No,” Louis whispered, feeling his stomach drop and his body going cold. He spared a glance at Dog Li to find he was staring up at Geoff and looking absolutely distraught. 

“You can't do that!” Zayn said, looking like he was seconds away from screaming and storming off. 

“Of course we can't!” 

Louis whipped his head around to see Karen by the kitchen door, face determined and brave despite the tear tracks down her cheeks. 

“We're not taking him out of life support,” she said as she approached the table and set the tea kettle down with a shaking hand. 

“He's fought so hard his whole life— from the day he was born, to all his injections for his kidney— he had a scarred kidney, you know? It's all healed now because he wouldn't give up. He didn't give up on all the bullies at his school too, and he didn't give up on his dream to sing his songs to thousands of people,” she said, sniffing and wiping the tears from her cheeks like she was frustrated she couldn't stop them from falling. “So why should we give up on him?” 

“Karen...” Geoff whispered, reaching a hand out to hold hers and she took it, squeezing his hand tightly, like it was the only thing keeping her from completely falling apart. 

Zayn smiled, slumping on his seat like all the fight has been drained from him. “Nobody's giving up on Liam,” he agreed. 

Karen nodded like that was the only answer she'd accept, and she smiled as she sat down. “More tea?” 

Louis spared another glance at Li and saw the look of relief in his face, like he couldn't believe how lucky he was that his parents believed in him this much. Louis sighed in relief as well, knowing that despite all the obstacles, there were still some bright spots to be found. 

>>>>

As they said their goodbyes, Karen reached out and suddenly hugged Louis so tight, all the air was punched out of his lungs. 

“Thank you,” she sniffed. “I know you said you've only known him for a short while, but it means a lot that you're here,” she said as she pulled away. 

“It's the least I could do. Liam—he's uh, he's a good friend,” Louis said. 

“I'm glad he has you by his side,” she said, taking Louis' hand and squeezing it. She gave him a small smile, almost as if she knew he was lying, almost as if she knew 'good friend' didn't even begin to define what Liam was to Louis. And somehow Louis didn't mind, because she was right. 

>>>

Li sat quietly in the living room, curled up on the couch and staring at the TV but not really seeing it. He'd been like that ever since he transformed, and it was obvious their earlier visit to Liam's flat to meet his parents was what weighed his thoughts down. 

“Scoot over,” Louis ordered, flopping onto the couch next to Li. 

Li moved to make room for him, but as soon as Louis settled in, Li hugged him from behind, hooking his chin on Louis' shoulder. 

“They're great, aren't they? My parents,” Li said. 

“Yeah, they are,” Louis said. 

“What do we do now? What if I never get back?” Li asked. 

“Don't say that. Of course you'll get back,” Louis said softly. 

“We're not any closer to getting me back. What if... what if I stay like this forever?” he asked. “I'll just stay here with you then,” Li said, burying his face in Louis' shoulder. “I'll be your faithful dog, waitin' for you to come back with me tail wagging every time.” 

“You can't do that,” Louis chastised. 

“Why not? You don't like it that I'm here?” Li asked, petulantly. 

“'Course I do,” Louis answered in a heartbeat. “But you can't stay here forever. I don't want you stuck in a life like this, not when you've got this wonderful life waiting for you. You heard your mum, they're not giving up on you. So you shouldn't give up too,” he said, determined to be strong for Li. 

But at the back of his mind, he had the exact same fears Li had. What if they never found a way? What if Li stayed stuck in this curse forever? Louis loved Li, and he would stay by his side no matter what happened. But once again, love would never be enough. They could never be enough for each other. Not like this. 

Li was silent for a while, taking all of Louis' words in. He twisted Louis around by the shoulders so they were face to face. He looked troubled, eyes shining with unshed tears, as he leaned forward and pressed their lips together. 

It was slow and warm and perfect, full of promises of all they could have together, and full of sorrow and pain as well, for all the things they could never have. Not while Li was like this. And when they parted, they were both breathless and clinging to one another, with tears threatening to slip down Louis' cheeks. Li cradled Louis' head and kissed his forehead. “I wish the sun never rises. Because I only feel alive at night when I'm with you.” 

Louis tried to mask the desperate drumbeat of his heart with a chuckle. “You're such a sap,” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. 

“You like it,” Li answered, giggling softly. “I'm glad I found you too, Lou,” he said, alluding to his mother's words from earlier. “Thanks for making this feel like home to me,” he said, settling behind Louis' back again and hugging him close. 

Louis swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. Li got it all backwards. This place never felt more like home to Louis than when Li was here with him. 

“No matter how long it takes, we'll find a way, Li,” Louis said quietly. 

Li didn't answer, and they just stayed like that, cuddled together for the rest of the night. 

For once, the night felt endless to Louis, as he let his troubled thoughts tumble around in his mind. No matter how good it felt, being with Li in his flat, living the nights with him by his side, this could never be enough for them. Never. 

>>>>

Louis always thought it'd be more dramatic than this. Like maybe some huge spectacle in the hospital where they tried to steal Liam's body in a desperate attempt to find a way to merge him and Li again. Or maybe fireworks would erupt, sparks would come falling from the sky like golden rain, Li's body would be engulfed by light, and in a grand show of colors and explosives, he'd transform into a human completely. 

He never imagined it would go like this. 

Suddenly. Quietly. Without any warning whatsoever. Leaving Louis alone and confused and his heart sinking to his feet. 

Because when Louis woke up the next morning, Li had vanished. 

Just like that. 

Louis' phone started ringing all of a sudden, and Louis didn't have time to think about what Li's absence meant, until he was answering the call. It was Zayn. Frantic and crying over the phone, he was damn near unintelligible. 

“It's Liam!” Zayn said, hiccuping. “Liam's awake!” 


	9. Chapter 9

Louis could remember with vivid clarity how Liam looked that day. Sunlight streaming from the window, casting a warm glow on Liam's otherwise pale face. His cheeks were sunken and his lips were chapped. There were circles under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping this entire time. The stitches on his forehead looked garish against the smoothness of his skin. Oh but he still looked so beautiful in the sunlight. So beautiful and so alive. 

Then Liam turned to him and gave him an apologetic smile. “I'm sorry but I don't think we've met?” 

And Louis felt his world crumbling at his feet. 

>>>>

“Stop thinking about that day.” 

Louis snapped out of his thoughts. Zayn flopped onto the couch and rested his head on Louis' lap. They were in the tour bus, having just finished another concert and heading to a hotel for the night. 

“You look like you're replaying that day at the hospital again,” Zayn surmised. He was there when it happened, so he knew exactly what Louis looked like then, and Louis could only guess that was exactly how he looked like now. 

“Shut up,” Louis said, but there wasn't any strength in his words. Zayn really did know him too well. 

“It's not healthy, you know,” Zayn said. “It's been like three months.” 

“Try four and a half,” Louis corrected. 

“Four? Wow shit, I can't believe it's been that long,” Zayn said in surprise. “You still like Liam, yeah?” Zayn asked, after a beat. 

Louis sighed, head falling back so he could stare at the ceiling. “Reckon I've never stopped liking him.” 

“You know, you should go out some more. I've got this perfect bloke for you...” 

“Zayn stop—” 

“What? He's fit and he likes footie. And did I mention he's pretty decent at Fifa? I have it on good authority that that's an ideal trait to have nowadays,” Zayn said. 

“No. Just stop it, please,” Louis said, a little more forcefully this time. 

“What? Don't you wanna try again? I know he doesn't remember but—” 

“That's the thing, Zee, he doesn't remember,” Louis said in frustration. “I don't want him to look at me like I'm a total stranger. It just— ah, it just hurts too fucking much.” 

“I just want you to be happy, bro,” Zayn said softly before he got up. 

“I know,” Louis replied. 

“In case you're interested, though, Liam's told me he's gonna be Ed's opening act on his new tour,” Zayn reported. 

“I know. I heard on the news,” Louis said, unable to stop the proud smile from taking over his face. Liam had accomplished so much in such a short time, not even letting his prolonged stay at the hospital to drag him down. He was out there living his dream, and Louis couldn't be any happier for him. 

“Yeah. It's not for another couple of months, but he's already gave me tickets to come see him. Gave me enough for me whole family and probably half of Bradford to come. You could, you know? Come see him?” 

Louis' smile faltered and he bit his lip. He was torn between wanting to see Liam and wanting to protect his heart from all the pain he knew he would feel once he laid eyes on him again. He didn't know if he could take going through that again, of looking at Liam and seeing none of Li's love for him in his eyes. 

Because Li loved him, even without words, Louis was sure of it. Li _loved_ him. Liam didn't. 

“Think about it,” Zayn said. “You've still got time.” 

>>>>

Louis thought there was something missing in his flat whenever he returned to it. He kept things exactly the same all these months, kept the guest bedroom a pigsty, kept the pillow and blanket stacked on one end of the couch, kept the suitcase of Harry's borrowed clothes and the bags of Li's clothes by the corner of the living room. 

But this time when he returned at the end of their North American tour, Louis thought he'd had enough. He cleared everything out, spent his free time fixing up his guest bedroom, returned Harry's clothes to him, and sealed all of Li's things in a box— the pillow and blanket, the clothes, his collar and leash, even the picture frame Li stole from the hospital room. 

When everything was fixed and not a single thing out of place, he locked his door and decided to escape from it all. He took a page from Zayn's book and turned his phones off, fleeing to Donny for the rest of his short break. 

>>>>

He lost track of time while at Donny. He went out drinking nearly every night with his old friends, baby sat the twins in the mornings, went on errands to the supermarket or to the bank with his mum. He thought he was doing great. That maybe he'd finally learned to accept a life without Liam in it. 

Deep down, he knew he was just kidding himself, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before he broke. Li made him feel whole. He was it, the missing piece he'd been looking for all this time. Without him, Louis would never feel complete again. 

It was the scariest thing Louis could think of. 

>>>>

“ _You're going to open for Ed Sheeran's O2 Arena shows this month and your debut single's coming out soon too,” the interviewer began._

“ _Yeah, it's out on the 14_ _th_ _.”_

“ _But even before that, you've been working on songs for other artists. Tell me more about that.”_

“What are you watching so early in the morning?” Louis grumbled, taking a seat in the living room next to Fizzy and cradling his throbbing head. He didn't realize he had drunk that much last night. 

“It's two in the afternoon,” Fizzy told him. “And I'm watching Liam Payne. You know about him?” 

Louis froze, lifting his eyes up to the TV screen. For a moment he forgot how to breathe because Liam was there, smiling like he hadn't a care in the world, and all Louis could think about was how good Liam looked. His cheeks were fuller now, and his skin had a healthier glow. He grew out his hair so that it was longer at the top, perfectly coiffed with not a strand out of place. His smile seemed to be brighter too, and his eyes sparkled with the same warmth that Louis loved in Li's eyes. 

Louis found he couldn't look away. 

“ _...and I also wrote a song for One Direction's new album. It's coming out November,” Liam said._

“ _That's pretty big,” the interviewer said in awe._

_Liam grinned from ear to ear, “It is,” he replied._

“Oh so you know him then. He looks fit,” Fizzy remarked. 

“He's my age,” Louis reminded her. 

“So?” Fizzy replied. 

Louis ignored her, turning his attention back to the screen. 

_" Ah but I heard, and tell me if this is just a rumor, I heard you almost died earlier this year because you saved a dog from getting hit by a car,” the interviewer brought up._

Louis found it harder to breathe. 

“ _Uh yeah, that's true,” Liam answered. “Was in a coma for a month.”_

_There was a stunned hush that settled through the audience._

“ _That's incredible. What was that like?”_

“ _What, the accident? Or being in a coma?” Liam asked lightly, earning a few laughs from the audience._

“ _Both, if you don't mind,” the interviewer said._

_"It happened when I was out for my morning jog. I stopped at a crossing, and I remember looking up because I could see the sun starting to rise from in between the buildings. When I looked down, I saw this flash of brown dashing across the street, and I acted on instinct and ran after it. I can't remember anything after that,” Liam recounted._

“ _So the coma? Was it like taking a very, very long nap?” the interviewer asked._

_Liam cracked up at that. “You could say that. It's like being stuck in a never-ending dream.”_

“ _Oh? What did you dream about?” she asked, leaning forward like she was genuinely curious._

Louis felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Could it be possible Liam remembered? Even just a little? That maybe he saw it in his dreams, all those nights they spent together? 

_Liam shook his head. “I don't remember much, to be honest,” he said. “It's like those times when you wake up and you feel like you've just had a really good dream, but it's all a blur and you can't remember a specific thing about that dream. Just that it must have been good.”_

Louis' heart sank at Liam's words. Of course Liam didn't remember. How stupid of him to even hope. 

Fizzy looked up at Louis as he lazily stood up. “Where're you going?” she asked. 

“Out,” Louis answered. He couldn't bear to watch or listen to Liam for another second. It felt like he was back in that hospital room all over again, looking at Liam and wishing this was just one big, cruel joke. 

He never stopped wishing since then. 

>>>>

Louis was back in London for the week for a slew of promotional activities. It was his first day back and already, Louis wanted to be anywhere else but here. 

He was in the TV studios with the boys for a taping of a talk show interview and he just stepped out of the dressing room when he ran into _him_ of all people. 

“Oh, hi, Louis right? I'm Liam,” Liam introduced, face all smiles and bright sunshine and Louis' chest hurt just looking at him. 

“I-I know,” Louis stammered, taking Liam's hand and shaking it. He felt a spark run through his hand and he withdrew it abruptly. 

Liam frowned at Louis' weird behavior, but chose not to mention it. “Right, of course. Through Zayn, yeah? Where is that guy anyway?” Liam said, changing the subject. 

“Still getting his hair done,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. It was a miracle he was standing here having a normal conversation with Liam. He never thought it would be possible without him becoming an emotional wreck mid-way. Because they were already past this awkward, small talk phase, and it hurt to be back to square one like this. Still, Louis missed talking to Liam terribly. “You know how he is. Gotta keep his hair in perfect shape or else all hell will break loose,” he added. 

Liam giggled at that. “That's true.” 

And as if on cue, Zayn emerged from the dressing room, Niall and Harry right after him. They stopped dead in their tracks, and Louis tried not to cringe when they all had matching looks of shock on their faces. 

“Oh hey! I was looking for you,” Liam said as Zayn and the other two boys walked up to them. 

“What's up?” Zayn asked, glancing briefly at Louis, before offering Liam a smile. “How'd the interview go?” 

Louis resisted the urge to glare at Zayn. He knew Liam would be there? Why didn't he tell Louis so that Louis could've kept an eye out for him and avoided him at all costs? 

“I think I babbled too much again. Still not used to all of this stuff. You guys gotta teach me how to handle interviews sometime,” Liam suggested with a grin. 

“Louis is good in interviews. He can swerve the invasive questions like a ninja!” Niall suggested, and this time Louis didn't bother to hide his glare. “What? It's true though.” 

“Well then maybe you could teach me your ninja moves then?” Liam said, turning to Louis. 

“Uh... sure... sometime maybe...” Louis answered awkwardly, looking anywhere but at Liam's face. 

Liam must have noticed Louis' peculiar behavior again, because his eyebrows drooped and he was starting to form that kicked puppy face Louis knew all too well. 

“How're rehearsals for your first big performance going?” Zayn asked, changing the subject and saving Louis from making a fool of himself while simultaneously hurting Liam's feelings. 

“It's going great,” he grinned widely, eyes scrunching adorably. “You're comin' right?” he said hopefully. 

“'Course I am,” Zayn said. “Wouldn't miss it for the world.” 

“Performance?” Harry asked. “You mean at Ed's show this weekend?” 

Liam blushed, beaming proudly. “Yeah. It's my first big gig. You guys are like superstars now so it probably seems like it's not a big deal—” 

“It's a _big_ deal,” Louis interrupted him. “Don't sell yourself short.” Damn, he didn't mean for that to come out like he was scolding him. 

Liam blinked in surprise at Louis' outburst. “Alright, I won't,” he said, smiling. “I know you're busy, but I'd love for all of you to come watch this weekend.” 

“I already promised Ed I'll go,” Harry answered. 

“Sure, I'd love to be there,” Niall said. “It's gonna be sick.” 

Liam grinned. “Great,” he said. Then he turned to Louis, cocking his head to the side as if he was waiting for something. 

“Oh, uh...” Louis began, looking away from Liam's questioning gaze. “Sorry, but I'm busy. Got plans and, uh, stuff to do,” Louis said, and even to his ears it sounded like an obvious lie. But he just couldn't do it. He needed to stay as far away from Liam as possible. 

Liam's face fell momentarily, before hiding it with a smile that only seemed a tad forced. “It's alright. I understand. I guess I'll just see you guys there then?” he said, addressing the other three boys. 

When Liam left, Zayn looked at Louis like he wanted to punch some sense into him. He opened his mouth, no doubt about to tell Louis how stupid he was being, but Louis beat him to the punch. 

“Save it. I don't want to hear whatever it is you're going to say,” Louis said before storming off. 

>>>>

After a whole day of non stop interviews and TV appearances, Louis somehow got dragged out for some drinks with the boys and the crew. He wanted to relax, forget everything, forget Liam even for a second, but they ended up going to the exact club where they went out with Li before, and not even the alcohol helped with his sour mood. 

“Have you heard Liam's single? It came out today,” Harry asked. 

“No,” Louis frowned and drank his beer faster. 

“It's pretty good, you should listen to it,” Harry suggested, refusing to take the hint. 

Louis slammed his pint onto the table. “I think I've had enough for tonight. I'm headin' home, boys.” 

“You can't keep on escaping him forever, Louis,” Niall said, looking more serious than Louis had ever seen him before. 

Louis let out a bitter laugh. “This isn't escape. This is self preservation.” 

“You remembered what Li said before?” Harry asked. “That singing was a big part of him, of his life before he got cursed? Well this is him living the life he was meant to live from the start. You should be there to see it,” Harry said. 

Louis felt like crying, because dammit, Harry was right. But he still couldn't do it. He was too scared. “I can't--” he said, choking up, before he turned around and fled the club. 

>>>>

Louis just got in his car when Zayn caught up with him, slipping into the passenger seat before Louis could even protest. 

Louis sighed and closed the door. “You're coming with me to my flat then, Zee?” he asked as he started the engine. 

“You're being a miserable twat and we're all tired of it,” Zayn said. 

“I don't want to talk about Liam, Zayn. Please,” he pleaded. 

“I know you don't want to talk. So just listen, alright?” Zayn said, pulling out his phone out and plugging the Aux cord in. 

“Zayn—” 

“Just listen,” Zayn said, fiddling with his phone for a bit. “Ah, here it is.” 

Louis frowned. He didn't know what Zayn was up to but whatever it was, it wasn't going to work. 

The sound of a guitar filtered through the speakers, and Zayn turned the volume up. Then, the percussions joined in. And finally a voice. 

It was Liam. 

“ _Makin' little conversation, so long I've been waiting,_  
_to let go of myself and feel alive,_  
_So many nights I've thought it over, told myself I kinda liked her,_  
_but there was something missing in her eyes,”_

“Something was missing in her eyes,” Louis had mumbled softly when Liam asked about El. And Liam had draped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer. “Yeah?” 

Louis was choking up. Those were _his_ words when he told Liam about El. 

_"I was stumbling, looking in the dark, with an empty heart,_  
_but you say, you feel the same,_  
_could we ever be enough? Baby we could be enough.”_  


Louis buried his face in his hands, unable to stop the tears from flowing. This was the song that he and Liam shared in his dreams. And Liam, who didn't remember a single thing about them, wrote it down and sang it for the whole world to hear. 

“ _And it's alright, calling out for somebody to hold tonight,_  
_When you're lost I'll find a way and I'll be your light,_  
_You will never feel like you're alone,_  
_I'll make this feel like home.”_

“Thanks for making this feel like home to me,” Li had said, curled behind him on the couch, the last night he was with Louis. 

Louis sobbed into his hands. Was it too much to hope? That maybe Liam did remember? Maybe all the memories were just locked up inside him, waiting to be unleashed. Maybe there was still a chance they could be together. 

“ _I'll make this feel like home.”_

“Zayn,” Louis sobbed. “I wanna see him. I wanna see Liam.” 

Zayn reached out and pulled him in for a hug, letting him sob messily on his shoulder. “You idiot. What took you so long?” 

>>>>


	10. Chapter 10

A stage hand led Louis and the boys backstage to Liam's dressing room and Louis couldn't hide his nervousness. He ran a shaking hand though his hair, mussing the carefully crafted coif that Lottie painstakingly fixed for him that morning. He even had Caroline put together a nice outfit for him, some designer shirt that he was told made the blue in his eyes pop out, and trousers that Louis was told made him look taller, and made his bum look ten times better (thank you, Niall, for the compliment). 

He wanted to look his best. He was done running from Liam after all. He decided that if Liam couldn't remember him, he would _make_ him remember. And if he couldn't, then they would just make more memories together to replace all those he lost. If only he could make Liam fall for him again. 

Liam beamed when he saw them, cheeks bunching up and pushing his eyes closed from the sheer joy in his smile. “You made it!” he said, bouncing up and down like an excited puppy. 

“Promised, didn't I?” Zayn asked, giving Liam a big hug. 

“Good luck out there tonight,” Niall said, bumping fists with Liam. 

“Thanks. I'm buzzin'. I can't wait,” Liam said. 

Harry shook Liam's hand and gave him a small package. “Scented candles. Keeps me calm before a show. You should try lighting up one.” 

Liam giggled. “Oh thanks, I just might.” 

Louis cleared his throat and stepped up to shake Liam's hand. “I didn't bring you anything, sorry,” he said. 

Liam grinned. “You made it. That's enough for me,” he said, shaking Louis' hand and holding on to it a little longer than normal. 

Louis smiled, making no move to withdraw his hand. 

“I'm glad you're here,” Liam said, addressing all four of them, but never once taking his eyes away from Louis. 

Louis felt something shift in that moment, like their hands holding each other sparked something in Liam's eyes, and Liam couldn't look away from him. Louis never wanted him to. 

“Liam hon, we have to get your hair done,” the stylist called. 

“Right,” Liam said, blinking and reluctantly letting go of Louis' hand. “Are you heading to your seats already? My family's gonna be here any minute, and I sort of promised me sisters I'd introduce them to you guys,” Liam said sheepishly. 

“I suppose we could stick around for a while,” Louis answered, a smile on his face. 

>>>>

Liam's family came in the dressing room after a while, and the room came alive with laughter and conversation. 

Karen hugged Louis tightly as soon as she saw him. She didn't question where he'd been all this time, but she just smiled and, with tears in her eyes, she thanked him for coming. 

Liam's sisters took turns taking selfies with the boys, and when Louis had exhausted all the funny faces in his repertoire, he begged out of the pictures and sat on the make-up chair next to Liam, pretending to fiddle with his phone while he stole glances at Liam getting his hair done. 

When the hair stylist was done, Liam inspected her work on the mirror, and beamed. “Nice,” he said appreciatively. 

Louis looked at Liam and tried to hide a smile of his own. He couldn't agree more. 

“Thanks again for coming,” Liam said turning to face Louis and beaming widely. 

“It was nothing,” Louis said, trying to act cool about it. 

“I thought for sure you secretly hated me.” 

Louis dropped his phone in surprise. “What?” 

“Oh fuck, I'm sorry,” Liam said, bending over to reach for Louis' phone. 

“Why did you think I hated you?” Louis asked as Liam handed him his phone. 

Liam tried not to fidget in his seat. “I don't know... we've only met once, yeah? At the TV studios, and I just got the feeling you wanted to be anywhere but there talking to me,” Liam confessed. 

Louis' face fell. “I don't hate you,” he said. “I could never.” It was the truth. 

Liam smiled. “I'm glad,” he said in relief. “'Cause I thought maybe Zayn hasn't stopped pestering you to go out on a date with me. I'm really sorry about that. It's partly my fault.” 

Louis smiled bitterly. Oh, right. The blind date that didn't happen. That was the extent of Liam's memories of him. “Why're you saying sorry about the blind date? I was the one who stood you up. I should be apologizing—” 

Liam shook his head. “No, no, it's alright. I understand. You were only forced into it. It's partly my fault,” he repeated. “He got the idea to set us up after I caught one of your concerts last year. I got drunk after and I might've confessed to Zayn that I fancied you. After that, he wouldn't stop teasing me about it, said I kept going on and on about your blue eyes and your voice and your bum— ” Liam suddenly froze, looking mortified when he realized what he just said. “Sorry, forget I said that,” he said quickly, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. 

Louis smiled so wide it felt like his face was going to split in two. “You fancied me?” he asked, still unable to believe what he just heard. Hope flared in his chest and his heart was beating wildly. Maybe there was still a chance... 

Liam cringed. “Sorry. I hope you're not bothered by it. That happened a long time ago. Even before my accident and—” 

“So does that mean you don't fancy me anymore?” Louis asked, immediately deflating. 

“No!” Liam said in alarm when he saw the look of disappointment in Louis' face. 

“No you don't fancy me or no you still— ” 

“No, I still!” Liam answered, surging up in his seat and nearly toppling the chair over. His face flushed with embarrassment when everybody turned to look at him. He fixed his chair and sat back down on it slowly. “I think I still... fancy you, that is,” he said, voice going all soft as he looked at Louis with a bashful smile. “If that's alright?” he added shyly, blush staining his cheeks. 

Louis chuckled, shaking his head. Liam looked so shy and unsure as he waited for Louis to reply. As if the answer would be anything but 'yes'. God he loved this man. “I don't know if I'm alright with it... might need to go on that date, just to be sure,” Louis said, pretending to be seriously thinking about it. In reality, Louis felt like he was going to burst with so much hope and joy. He was desperately trying not to jump Liam then and there and snog him senseless. Liam might not remember their time together, but Liam— Liam still felt the same way about him. This was more than Louis could've ever hoped for. 

Liam perked up, looking like an excited puppy. “You would— seriously?” 

“Mmm...I'll have to think it through. I'll tell you when the concert's over. So you better be bloody brilliant out there,” Louis said, grinning deviously. 

Liam's eyes burned with the challenge, and with a determined look on his face he said, “You're on.” 

>>>>

All four boys took their seats at the VIP section just to the left side of the stage, away from most of the screaming fans. It was evident most of them were there to see Ed, but there were quite a few screaming Liam's name as well. 

Louis felt as nervous as the first time he performed in front of a crowd. He knew just how brilliant Liam was and he couldn't wait for everybody else to see it too. 

Suddenly the lights dimmed and Liam stepped out to loud cheers and Liam waved at them happily. “O2 how're we feeling?” 

The crowd screamed and Liam beamed even wider. Standing there with the spotlight trained on him, Liam never looked better. He was made for the stage, Louis thought. 

“Thank you so much for coming today. Ed's going to be out in a few minutes, so until then, you're just going to have to make do with me,” he said with a failed wink. 

The crowds cheered and Liam began singing his first song. It was one of Ed's older songs that was not part of his set list for the tour, and the crowd ate it up. 

He sang another cover song, and Louis watched proudly as the crowd sang along to Liam. This was Liam living his dreams, this was exactly where he was supposed to be. 

“This next song is my new single, I don't know if you've heard about it...” he said, sitting down on one of the steps on the stage. 

Louis felt his heart beating in his throat. He'd been listening to Liam's song nonstop for the past few days. It was the only thing keeping him sane as he waited for the moment he could see Liam again. 

“...when I was in a coma, and yes, that was not a rumor, I really was in the hospital for a month. It's not a pleasant experience, but where was I? Oh right, when I was in a coma, I kept having this dream, over and over again. And when I woke up, this was the only thing I remembered from my dream. This song right here. I hope you like it, guys, this is Home.” 

Hope flared in Louis' chest. So he was right. Liam did remember something. It wasn't big, but it was a start. 

The band started playing and the crowd erupted in a flurry of screams, but Louis couldn't see or hear anything else except Li. He watched him as he started singing, as he stood up and went to the front of the stage, serenading the crowd. 

In the middle of the song, Liam looked to their direction, and even in the darkness, he found Louis and locked eyes with him. 

“ _Could we ever be enough? Baby we could be enough_ ,” he sang, his eyes never leaving Louis'. Something inside him broke, and Liam's face crumpled, and there were tears in his eyes. 

Louis looked at him in concern, but Liam continued to sing and Louis realized he was fine. The emotion of the song got to him, the energy of the crowd and the joy of singing his song to thousands of people... Louis remembered the exact same feeling. He was so proud of Liam at that moment that he felt his own tears fall from his eyes. 

“When you're lost, I'll find a way and I'll be your light. You will never feel like you're alone. I'll make this feel like home,” Liam sang to the crowd, and at the last moment he turned to look straight at Louis, eyes shining with tears. “I'll make this feel like home,” he sang, keeping his eyes on Louis until the song ended, and deafening cheers filled the arena. 

>>>>

Backstage, Louis could hear the screams of the crowd as Ed walked onto the stage. He was sure Ed would forgive him for missing a few songs. He needed to see Liam. 

Louis stopped by the door and took a deep breath before opening it. 

Liam was alone in the dressing room, stuffing his bag with all his things. “Yeah, mum, I'll be right out!” he said, before he turned around and froze when he saw Louis by the door. “Oh, uh, you're not my mum.” 

Louis smiled. “Nope. Last I checked, I'm still just Louis,” he said. 

“Sorry,” Liam said sheepishly, stuffing his bag with a couple more articles of his clothing before zipping it up. “She wants me to go join them outside so we could watch Ed's concert together.” 

“You should go then,” Louis said. 

“You're not watching?” Liam asked, cocking his head to the side in question, and Louis remembered how often Dog Li gave him that very same expression. 

“Oh I will be, I just wanted to congratulate you before I go back. That was a great performance,” Louis said, extending a hand out for a shake. 

“Thanks,” Liam said, beaming as he took Louis' hand. 

Their gazes locked with one another and with the first touch of their fingers, there was a spark there again, like electricity traveling across their skin, but this time, it was Liam who withdrew his hand and tore his gaze away. 

“Should we go back out together then?” Louis asked, trying to keep his composure. It would take time, Louis realized, for Liam to warm up to him again. Maybe for now, they could start by being friends. 

Liam looked down at his hand, and rubbed at his palm like he was burned by the contact of their skin. He looked like he was lost in deep thought. 

“Li?” Louis asked. 

Liam looked up in alarm. “What did you call me?” he asked. 

Louis paused, not realizing he had called him 'Li' just then. “I-- I called you 'Li'. You don't like it? I could—” 

“Only my family ever calls me 'Li',” Liam told him, and his eyes looked like they were lost for a second. 

“I'm sorry if—” Louis began. 

“—and _him_. He called me 'Li',” Liam added, voice barely above a whisper. His eyes focused back on Louis' face, and he took in his features like he was seeing Louis for the first time. “The person in my dreams... that was you.” 

Louis didn't know how to react. He was suddenly filled with so much joy and so much hope, it rendered him speechless, left him unable to do anything but stare at Liam with his mouth agape. 

“I keep seeing someone in my dreams. I couldn't make out their face, but I remember the feeling... I remember feeling safe and warm and perfect and... and I remember their voice. Calling me 'Li', and writing songs with me up in rooftops and in front of a piano at a flat somewhere. I—” Liam babbled, like he needed to get everything out or else he would explode. 

He took a deep breath. “I remember them telling me not to give up. That I'll get back. That we'll find a way. I—” he stopped, like he was punched straight in the gut. “Oh god, Lou, it was you. This whole time. It's always been you. I remember now. I—” Liam stopped, like he was choking on his words. “I remember you.” 

Louis didn't realize it was possible to feel this much happiness, like energy was bursting from his every pore, like his heart was threatening to explode from his chest, like he wanted to jump around and scream from the rooftops. Louis felt the tears well up in his eyes even as he smiled so wide, he felt his cheeks start to hurt. “About damn time, you fucking bastard,” he said, letting the tears flow freely down his cheeks. 

Liam strode to Louis and startled him by swooping down and capturing his lips for a kiss. 

It was like magic. Exploding fireworks. Sparks coming down from the sky like golden rain. 

His Li was back. 

“I remember everything now. I remember. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I forgot you all this time,” Liam said against Louis' lips before he wrapped him in a tight hug. 

“It's okay. You're here now, yeah? You're not leaving?” Louis said, hugging Liam back like he never wanted to let go. 

“Yeah I'm here. I'm not going anywhere,” Liam promised. 

“Stay human this time around, alright? Night _or_ day.” 

“I promise,” Liam said, laughing. 

“Good,” Louis said, burying his face in Liam's neck and smiling so wide, he felt like his face was going to split in two. 

“Now... you said something about finally going on that date?” Liam asked playfully. 

Louis laughed against Liam's neck. “It's your turn to buy me dinners for an entire month!” he declared. 

Liam grinned. “Deal.” 

>>>>


	11. Epilogue

Was Louis dreaming again? 

No. This wasn't a dream. 

Louis was lying on the grass, at the garden next to Liam's flat (which Louis recently realized was just right behind the building with the old lady and the mystery party animal). Liam barely lived here anymore, he was out on tour with Ed, and when he was in town, he usually slept over at Louis' place. Still, he liked to return here from time to time. This was where he always came to write his songs, right here on the grass and looking up at the sky. 

Louis looked up at that very same patch of sky, tracing stars with his fingers, and humming Liam's song. No, it was _their_ song, wasn't it? 

He turned to the Liam beside him, saw him smile, and felt his chest grow tight with emotion. Just being with Liam set his mind at ease, made him feel warm and content and happy in a way that he'd never realized was possible. He felt, in that moment, that he was whole again. 

“What are you thinking about?” Liam asked. 

“Hmm? Nothing,” Louis answered, nudging him with an elbow. “Come on, why'd you stop singing?” he asked. 

“Because I thought I lost you there for a second,” Liam replied, chuckling. “But let's see... where were we? Oh right...” he said, clearing their throat before starting to sing again. “ _I was stumbling, looking in the dark, with an empty heart..”_

Louis smiled slowly, listening to Liam's voice and thinking nothing could ever sound as good in his ears. 

“ _But you say, you feel the same... Could we ever be enough?—Oooh!_ ” Liam sang before bursting into laughter and ruining the song. 

Louis laughed along with him. “You sound terrible!” 

Liam laughed, leaning in closer and staring at Louis with eyes that sparkled with mirth and burned with an intense emotion that Louis was all too familiar with. It was probably the same emotion lighting up his eyes whenever he looked at Liam. 

“ _Maybe we could be enough?_ ” Liam said, so softly that Louis didn't know if he was still singing a line from the song, or asking Louis something important, something Louis just realized for himself at that very moment. Yes. They could be enough for each other. They didn't need anything else. 

“That's not the lyr—” Louis was about to comment, before Liam closed the distance between them and gave him a slow, lazy kiss. 

Liam's kisses really were the best, Louis thought, and when they parted, Louis had a dreamy expression on his face. “You know what I just realized?” he asked with a dazed smile. 

“What?” Liam asked, genuinely curious. 

“You still kinda smell like a dog,” Louis said, before bursting into laughter at Liam's indignant expression. 

“That's not me! Loki was all over me this afternoon,” he said, pulling away from Louis with a pout. 

“It's okay,” Louis said, still laughing. He pulled Liam by the collar of his shirt. “I kinda like it,” he said before kissing Liam again. 

When they parted, Louis looked up at Liam, up at those big, puppy dog eyes he loved so much. “Come live at my place— permanently,” he found himself blurting out without thinking about it, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that was exactly what he wanted. 

Liam blinked in surprise. “What? You mean like move in with you?” he asked, confused. 

Louis nodded. “Half of your stuff's in the guest bedroom already. Just move the other half over and be done with it.” 

“I'm not gonna sleep in your guest bedroom,” Liam said, seemingly appalled by the idea. 

“You never slept there anyway,” Louis said with a roll of his eyes. “Come live with me?” Louis asked again. 

Liam bit his lip like he was considering it. “You're not opposed to living with a dog in the house again, are you?” 

“So long as you're talking about Loki and not you, then I'm fine with it,” Louis answered. 

Liam laughed. “I don't know. I thought you liked some of my dog-like qualities,” he teased. 

Louis blushed, his hand coming up to the side of his neck where Liam's teeth marks were still visible just under his collar. “Just the occasional biting. And the wild, animal sex,” Louis remarked, feeling smug when his words made Liam flush with embarrassment. “Did you realize that you've got a preference for doing it doggy style?” 

“Alright, alright,” Liam said, face going crimson. “Stop talking. I'll move in with you.” 

Louis grinned mischievously, reaching a hand to pat Liam on the head. “Good boy.” 

The End. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading through! Don't forget to check out the fanmix by bohemu [here](http://8tracks.com/bohemu/li-me).
> 
> Work was inspired by the movie Just Like Heaven, in case you haven't already guessed.
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> _I'll make this feel like home..._


End file.
